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HISTORY 


OF 


GLENDALE 

AND 

VICINITY 


BY 


JOHN  CALVIN  SHERER 


ILLUSTRATED 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  GLENDALE  HISTORY  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
1922 


C<H=^t^ 


'^ 


.G555 


COPYRIGHTED,  1923 
BY 

F.  M.  BROADBOOKS 

AND 

J.  C.  SHERER  s 


MAY  24 '23 


IC1A711315 


INTRODUCTORY 

IN  WRITING  THE  STORY  of  an  individual  life  the  biographer 
has  one  great  advantage  in  knowing  just  where  to  begin.  It  oc- 
casionally happens  that  it  appears  worth  while  to  give  the  world  some 
account  of  the  ancestors  of  his  subject,  but  this  is  not  strictly  one  of 
the  requirements  of  the  writer's  task.  There  may  be  some  slight 
doubt  as  to  the  exact  time  the  individual  first  opened  his  eyes  and 
beheld  the  world,  but  there  is  rarely  room  for  doubt  as  to  the  time  and 
the  date  when  the  world  first  noticed  the  advent  of  the  individual, 
thanks  to  the  natural  instinct  or  desire  of  fond  parenthood. 

But  the  community  is  different.  A  city  may  have  come  into 
existence  legally  as  a  municipality  on  a  certain  date,  but  that  in  itself 
means  very  little,  while  on  the  contrary  the  story  of  the  years  preced- 
ing its  putting  on  the  habiliments  of  a  city  and  the  acts  and  incidents 
leading  up  to  that  climax,  are  more  likely  to  possess  considerable 
interest.  And,  as  the  biographer  sometimes  considers  it  desirable  to 
set  forth  the  ancestry  of  his  subject,  so  the  historian  endeavors  to 
account  for  certain  characteristics  in  the  subject  of  his  story  by 
delving  into  the  past. 

Every  community  has  some  distinct  characteristic,  something 
individual  to  itself  which  is  quite  possibly  a  birthright,  inherited  and 
not  acquired.  This  individual  quality  may  not  be  such  as  to  be 
readily  recognized,  but  it  exists.  The  present  it  is  true  is  the  only 
thing  alive,  speaking  materially,  but  it  is  of  great  importance  that 
the  present  does  not  forget  the  past  from  which  it  sprung,  for  jiossibly 
it  may  find  something  in  the  dead  past  that  will  make  more  worth 
while  the  living  present,  something  that  will  answer  questions  that 
are  often  asked  but  have  not  before  been  answered.  And  so  in 
writing  the  story  of  Glendale  and  the  surrounding  community,  the 
present  historian  will  take  the  reader  back  for  something  over  a  cen- 
tury, and  endeavor  to  present  a  picture  of  the  beginning  of  civilization 
in  this  locality,  assuming,  rather  liberally  perhaps,  that  the  European 
was  the  importer  of  civilization  to  our  California  coast. 

The  story  of  any  progressive  community  is  interesting  particu- 
larly to  the  people  who  are  a  part  of  it  and  whose  interests  are  bound 
up  in  it.  but  the  story  of  a  city  that  has  been  evolved  from  the  sage- 
brush and  cactus  within  such  a  brief  space  of  time,  as  is  comprised  in 
the  era  covering  the  growth  and  development  of  Glendale  from  the 
time  of  its  christening  to  the  present,  is  in  itself  something  of  a 
romance  and  possesses  more  than  local  interest  to  any  one  who  is  a 
student  (jf  human  development.  Of  the  pioneers  and  their  successors 
it  may  well  be  said  in  the  words  of  the  poet,  "they  builded  better  than 
thev  knew." 


4  INTRODUCTORY 

The  pioneers  did  not  think  of  building  a  city;  their  object  was  to 
create  homes  for  themselves  and  their  children,  and  their  ideas  of 
home  were  based  upon  the  Biblical  conception  of  living  under  one's 
own  vine  and  fig  tree,  with  all  the  outdoor  spaces  in  which  to  realize 
their  dreams  of  rural  independence  and  prosperity.  But  they  be- 
longed to  an  age  that  will  stand  forth  in  history  as  characterized  by  a 
feverish  desire  for  accomplishment  in  things  both  material  and  spirit- 
ual, and  in  which  desire  has  been  followed  swiftly  by  fruition;  and  this 
spirit  took  possession  of  them  until,  with  constantly  increasing  vision, 
they  reached  out  toward  an  ideal  in  which  the  city  beautiful,  and  pro- 
gressive in  the  highest  sense,  became  crystallized  into  a  living  fact, 
with  a  still  increasing  demand  upon  their  ideals  and  energy  which 
gives  promise  of  yet  greater  achievements. 

While  engaged  in  this  work,  the  writer  has  often  been  reminded 
by  his  inner  mentor,  of  his  indebtedness  to  others,  and  here  wishes  to 
freely  acknowledge  the  weight  of  the  obligation.  In  preparing  the 
introductory  history  he  has  cc)nsulted  the  works  of  Bancroft,  Guinn, 
McGroarty,  Willard  and  others,  and  appreciates  the  labor  involved  by 
the  research  of  each  of  them,  and  through  which  they  have  rendered 
service  to  posterity,  which  should  bring  them  all  honor,  whether  they 
have  received  other  recompense  or  not.  To  the  "old  settlers"  who 
have  gladly  delved  into  the  storehouses  of  their  memories  and  to  the 
more  recent  comers  who  have  so  cheerfully  given  assistance,  the 
writer  renders  thanks.  Particular  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
help  given  by  Mr.  George  B.  Woodberry  and  Mr.  E.  D.  Goode  for  the 
use  of  invaluable  "Minute"  and  "Scrap"  books. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 
Discoveries  on  the  California  Coast 7 

CHAPTER  H 
The  Rancho  San  Rafael  Appears 13 

CHAPTER  HI 
Don  Jose  Maria  Verdugo  and  His  Son  Julio 20 

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Period  of  Juljo  Verdugo  and  the  Mexican  \^'AR 30 

CHAPTER  V 
Julio  Verdugo,  His  Family  and  Activities 40 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Passing  of  the  Sage  Brush  Period 32 

CHAPTER  VII 
The   Story  of   Tropico 77 

CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Transportation   Question <53 

CHAPTER  IX 
The  Water  Question 113 

CHAPTER  X 
The  Municipality  of  Glendale 129 

CHAPTER  XI 
Newspapers   of   Glendale 1S3 

CHAPTER  XII 
Banking  Institutions  of  Glendale 191 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XIII 
The  Schools  of  Gi.endale 197 

CHAPTER  XIV 
Post  Offices  of  Glendale 214 

CHAPTER  XV 
Improvement  Associations,  Chambers  of  Commerce.  Etc 218 

CHAPTER  XVI 
Libraries    224 

CHAPTER  XVII 
The  Telephone  in  Gi.endale 228 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
Sanitariums   and  Hospitals 231 

CHAPTER  XIX 
Patriotic  Organizations 237 

CHAPTER  XX 
Churches  240 

CHAPTER  XXI 
Fraternal  Organizations 257 

CHAPTER  XXII 
Women's  Clubs 266 

CHAPTER  XXIII 
Other  Clubs,  Associations,  Etc 274 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

The  Professions 278 

CHAPTER  XXV 
Interviews  and  Afterthoughts 286 

Biographies    301-476 


CHAPTER  1 

DISCOVERIES  OX  THE  CALIFORNIA  COAST 

EARLY  DISCOVERERS:  BALBOA,  CABklLLO.  RODRIGUEZ.  SIR 
FRANCIS  DRAKE— PIRATE  OR  PATRIOT?  VISCAINO  AND  THE  BAY 
OF  MONTEREY.  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTY  YEARS  OF  NEGLECT. 
THE  JESUITS  EXPELLED;  ENTER  THE  FRANCISCANS.  THE  COMING 
OF  FRA.  JUNIPERO  SERRA.  THE  FOUNDING  OF  SAN  GABRIEL  AND 
LOS  ANGELES. 

The  stur\'  of  every  community  in  California  is  so  closely  related 
to  the  history  of  California  as  a  whole,  that  it  seems  quite  proper  here 
to  take  a  brief  glance  at  the  salient  points  of  early  California  history, 
[)articularl)'  in  reference  to  the  work  of  early  discoverers  along  the 
coast,  and  to  the  work  of  development  and  settlement  which,  in  itself, 
fonns  a  chapter  of  thrilling  interest,  and  although  many  times  told 
is  not  yet  familiar  to  a  very  large  proportion  of  our  people. 

After  Columbus  had  made  known  to  the  world  the  existence  of  a 
great  continent  to  the  westward,  it  was  the  work  principallj^  of  the 
adventure  seeking  Spaniards  that  rapidly  extended  that  knowledge. 
To  these  adventurers,  by  land  and  sea,  there  was  no  danger  too  great 
to  be  bravely  met  and  no  obstacle  the  conquest  of  which  they 
hesitated  to  attempt. 

Twenty-one  years  after  the  great  discovery  by  Colunibu,';.  Vasco 
Nunez  de  Balboa  (Who  is  said  to  have  voyaged  from  Spain  as  a  stow- 
away) stood  "upon  a  ]ieak  in  Darien"  and  beheld  the  world's  greatest 
ocean  at  his  feet.  The  splendid  harbor,  the  Bay  of  Panama,  afforded  a 
gathering  place  for  the  adventurers  of  that  and  another  century  or 
two,  and  an  outfitting  point  for  the  galleons  that  soon  were  traveling 
the  highways  of  the  newly  found  ocean,  making  frequent  trips  to  the 
Philippines,  and  up  and  down  the  coast  of  the  country  that  was  pres- 
ently to  be  known  as  California.  A  ])arty  of  mutineers  under  one 
Jiminez,  sailed  out  from  the  mainland  and  discovered  Lower  Cali- 
fornia in  15v^3.  It  was  for  many  years  thought  that  this  discovery 
was  an  island  and  early  maps  show  it  as  such.  Voyages  of  discovery 
in  attempts  to  circumnavigate  the  "island"  took  the  voyagers  up  the 
Gulf  of  California,  and  led  later  to  the  establishment  of  a  chain  of 
Missions  for  a  stretch  of  700  miles,  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  gulf 
on   Mexico's  mainland. 

It  was  about  the  year  1535  that  the  name  of  California  was 
a])plicd  to  the  supposed  island.  Fifty  years  after  Columbus  sighted 
San  Salvador,  and  gave  to  Spain  an  opportunity  to  conquer  a  new 
world  and  open  it  up  to  civilization,  a  hardy  Portuguese,  Juan 
Rodriguez  Cabrillo,  sailing  under  the  flag  of  Spain,  fixed  for  three 
hundred    years    the    title    to    California    in    the    Spanish    crown.     In 


8  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

September,  1542,  he  sailed  out  of  the  port  of  Navidad,  on  that  memor- 
able voj-age  which  resulted  in  placing  his  name  high  among  the  navi- 
gators of  his  time,  added  California  to  the  list  of  Spain's  possessions 
with  the  group  of  islands  off  its  coast  and  where  on  one  of  the  latter 
(San  Miguel),  his  earthly  journeyings  ended. 

It  was  on  September  28,  1542,  that  Cabrillo  entered  a  bay  which 
he  named  San  Miguel,  and  which  he  descril)ed  as  a  "land  locked  and 
very  good  harbor" — a  description  of  the  Bay  of  San  Diego  which  has 
been  allowed  to  stand  undisputed  until  the  present.  It  was  his  suc- 
cessor, Viscaino,  after  a  period  of  sixty  years,  who  entered  the  same 
bay  and  rechristened  it  San  Diego.  On  October  third,  Cabrillo  sailed 
18  leagues  northward,  discovering  the  islands  of  Santa  Catalina  and 
San  Clemente.  On  October  eighth,  he  crossed  the  channel  between 
the  islands  and  the  mainland  and  anchored  in  a  body  of  water  that  he 
called  the  "Bay  of  Smokes,"  which  proved  to  be  the  present-day 
harbor  of  San  Pedro.  From  there  he  sailed  six  leagues  up  the  coast 
and  arrived  at  Santa  Monica  Bay,  and  went  from  there  to  San  Buena 
Ventura.  It  seems  to  be  doubtful  whether  he  went  ashore  at  any 
of  these  places  owing  to  the  difficulty  in  making  a  landing.  Sailing 
out  to  sea  from  Ventura  he  discovered  the  Santa  Barbara  islands, 
and  then  went  northward  and  cast  anchor  in  the  Bay  of  Pines 
(Monterey).  October  17,  1592. 

He  continued  northward  as  far  as  latitude  40°  when  he  was 
turned  back  by  the  storms  encountered,  reaching  his  newly  discovered 
island  of  San  Miguel  where  he  died  three  or  four  months  later,  as  a 
result  of  injuries  received  in  the  course  of  his  adventures.  His  suc- 
cessor, Juan  Rodriguez,  resuming  the  voyage  after  the  passing  of  his 
chief,  discovered  Cape  Mendocino  and  reached  the  coast  of  Oregon. 

Then  appeared  upon  the  scene  that  picturesque  Englishman,  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  patriot  or  pirate,  whichever  you  choose.  He  sailed 
from  England  on  December  13,  1577,  with  a  fleet  of  five  ships  to  cir- 
cumnavigate the  globe,  a  feat  which  he  accomplished  after  three 
years;  a  voyage  which  was  characterized  by  one  perilous  adventure 
aker  another.  For  the  truth  of  history  it  must  be  stated,  however, 
that  the  greater  peril  in  a  great  number  of  cases  was  that  experienced 
by  the  unfortunate  Spanish  vessels  that  he  encountered  and  the 
equally  unfortunate  cities  along  the  Spanish-American  coast  which 
he  looted  and  destroyed.  It  was  his  boast,  when  he  sailed  along  the 
coast  of  California,  that  his  vessel  was  ballasted  with  Spanish 
treasure  of  which  he  took  enough  back  to  England,  to  serve  as  unmis- 
takable evidence  of  the  success  of  his  enterprise  and  to  establish  him 
in  the  good  graces  of  his  king. 

He  was  unfortunate  at  the  outset  of  his  expedition,  as  it  is 
recorded  that  when  he  had  passed  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan 
he  had  only  one  vessel  left  of  the  original  five  with  which  he  sailed. 
This  craft  was  originally  known  as  the  Pelican,  liut  was  re-christened 
the  "Golden  Hind"  by  Drake,  who  seems  to  have  had  the  courage  and 
the  skill  that  guaranteed  success  even  with  the  small  crew  that  could 
be  accommodated  on  a  vessel  of  one  hundred  tons  burden.  It  can  be 
imagined  that  with  a  craft  of  this  size  he  did  not  burden  himself  witli 


GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY  9 

prisoners  from  the  numerous  vessels  that  he  plundered ;  the  hospi- 
tality of  the  insatiable  ocean  was  ever  ready  to  be  supplied. 

Drake  had  not  much  to  do  with  the  discovery  and  settlement  of 
California,  and  his  voyage  is  principally  notable  for  the  narrow  escape 
he  had  from  making  really  important  discoveries,  notably  that  of  the 
Bay  of  San  Francis  which  he  so  narrowly  missed.  On  June  17,  1579, 
having  sailed  a  thousand  leagues  northward  from  Nicaragua,  he 
entered  Sir  Francis  Drake's  Bay,  a  few  miles  above  San  Francisco, 
remaining  there  thirty-six  days.  He  made  some  sort  of  a  claim  on 
this  part  of  the  coast  in  the  name  of  England,  but  it  was  not  backed 
up  in  any  effectual  way  and  was  barren  of  practical  results. 

In  September,  1595,  Viceroy  Conde  de  Monte  Key  contracted 
with  one  Sebastian  Viscaino  to  engage  in  a  pearl  fishing  expedition, 
but  by  some  evolutionary  process,  this  scheme  was  exchanged  for  one 
of  more  importance  to  the  world  and  resulted  in  Viscaino  getting 
fitted  out  for  the  discovery  of  harbors  and  bays  of  the  coast  of  the 
South  Sea  as  far  as  Mendocino.  It  was  in  November,  1602,  however, 
when  he  set  sail  on  his  memorable  voyage.  He  reached  the  Bay  of 
San  Miguel  on  November  tenth  of  that  year  and  re-christened  it  San 
Diego.  On  December  fifteenth  he  arrived  at  the  Bay  of  Pines,  to 
which  he  applied  the  name  of  Monterey  in  honor  of  the  Viceroy. 

He  seems  to  have  tarried  there  long  enough  to  get  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  country,  its  productions  and  of  the  natives  who  inhabited 
the  country  along  the  coast.  Viscaino  appears  to  have  been  not  only 
a  bold  mariner  but  a  man  of  vision,  for  he  made  a  report  on  the 
country  which  would  have  done  honor  to  a  twentieth  century  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce.  He  recommended  its  colonization,  which  recom- 
mendation was,  after  delay  of  a  few  years,  ultimately  adopted  but  not 
acted  upon,  owing  partially  to  the  death  of  Viscaino,  who  passed 
away  with  his  life  dream  unrealized;  but  due  more  likely  to  the  in- 
ability of  the  Spanish  authorities  to  push  their  brilliant  initiatives  to 
a  successful  conclusion.  Had  this  recommendation  of  Viscaino  been 
successfully  followed  up,  it  would  have  changed  the  entire  history 
of  our  country  and  have  given  to  the  Pacific  Coast  the  honor  of  being 
the  site  of  the  first  settlement  of  Europeans  in  the  territory  now 
known  as  the  United  States.  The  fact  is  almost  unbelievable  that 
after  Viscaino  for  a  period  of  160  years,  Spanish  galleons  sailed  up 
and  down  the  highways  of  the  Pacific,  to  and  from  the  Philippines 
and  never  entered  a  harbor  on  the  California  coast.  It  seemed  as  if 
the  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  the  land  discovered  by  the  venture- 
some sailors  of  Spain  had  entire!}-  faded  from  the  recollection  of  the 
generations  that  succeeded  them. 

The  Jesuits  who  had  constructed  the  missions  along  the  Mexican 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  California,  finally  got  into  such  disfavor  with  the 
Spanish  authorities,  that  a  decree  was  issued  for  their  banishment.  It 
was  not  at  once  enforced,  but  the  government  finally  succeeded  in 
getting  the  most  of  them  shipped  out  of  the  country,  the  decree  being 
put  into  efifect  b\'  (jovernor  Caspar  de  Portola.  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed for  that  purjjose.  The  Jesuits  were  succeeded  by  the  Francis- 
cans and  to  this  circumstance,  California  is  indebted  for  the  new  era  in 


]0  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

its  development  which  now  began  after  such  a  long  period  of  neglect. 

At  this  point  appears  upon  the  scene  Father  Junipero  Serra, 
whose  story  of  sacrifice  and  achievement  is  familiar  to  all  Califor- 
nians,  as  the  builder  of  the  missions,  and  the  principal  figure  in  the 
tardy  effort  of  the  Spaniards  to  Christianize  the  natives  and  develop 
the  resources  of  the  country  which  Cabrillo,  Viscaino  and  other  dis- 
coverers had  presented  to  the  Spanish  crown  two  centuries  before. 

Father  Serra  had  arrived  in  Mexico  in  1749,  and  had  demon- 
strated his  ability  and  enthusiasm  in  mission  work.  He  was  selected 
by  Jose  de  Galvez  as  president  of  California  Missions  and  arrived  at 
Loreta,  Lower  California,  in  1768,  accompanied  by  fifteen  associates 
who  were  distributed  to  the  various  missions  which  Father  Keno  and 
the  other  Jesuits  had  founded  around  the  Gulf  of  California.  The  de- 
cree banishing  the  Jesuits  having  been  enforced  and  the  Franciscans 
put  in  charge  of  the  existing  missions,  Galvez  turned  his  attention  to 
the  Christianizing  of  Alta  California,  no  doubt  urged  on  to  it  by  the 
enthusiastic  Serra.  It  was  decided  to  send  expeditions  to  Monterey 
and  San  Diego,  two  of  them  overland  and  another  by  sea.  Father 
Serra  accompanied  one  of  the  former  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Rivera  y  Moncado  and  a  start  was  made  on  March  24,  1569.  Later, 
however,  Father  Serra  attached  himself  to  the  company  commanded 
by  de  Portola  and  was,  therefore,  in  the  last  of  all  the  expeditions  to 
arrive  at  San  Diego,  when  that  party  caught  their  first  sight  of  that 
beautiful  bay  on  July  1,  1769. 

As  if  to  make  up  as  far  as  possible  for  the  long  delay  in  taking  up 
the  work  of  civilization,  both  the  holy  father  and  the  militarj'  com- 
mander lost  no  time  in  starting  the  work  that  they  left  Mexico  to  ac- 
complish. On  the  fourteenth  of  July,  Portola  started  for  Monterey 
with  his  company  of  62  persons,  and  on  July  sixteenth  the  Mission 
of  San  Diego  was  founded,  the  first  place  of  worship  erected  in  the 
Pacific  territory  of  Imperial  Spain,  to  be  followed  by  that  wonderful 
string  of  missions  which  were  nearly  all  completed  during  the  life  of 
Father  Junipero  Serra,  and  around  which  cluster  so  much  of  the  glory 
and  romance,  and  some  of  the  shame  of  California's  early  history. 

John  Steven  McGroarty  in  the  wonderful  Mission  Play  has  set 
forth  so  man)'  of  the  incidents  in  the  life  of  this  holy  Franciscan 
priest,  and  particularly  his  first  experiences  at  proselyting  the  natives, 
that  only  a  few  more  lines  are  required  here  to  complete  the  outline  of 
this  brief  chapter  covering  that  period.  The  record  of  the  location  left 
by  Cabrillo  of  the  Bay  of  Monterey  (or  Bay  of  Pines  as  he  called  it), 
proved  to  be  inaccurate,  and  as  a  consequence  the  expedition  of  Por- 
tola failed  to  locate  that  harbor,  and  although  it  had  in  November, 
1769,  discovered  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  returned  in  a  condition 
of  great  discouragement  to  San  Diego,  reaching  there  January  24, 
1770. 

During  the  absence  of  this  party,  Father  Serra  had  a  very  dis- 
couraging time  at  his  new  Mission.  The  Indians  refused  to  be 
friendly  and  consequently  were  not  converted.  Provisions  became 
scarce  and  when  Portola  returned,  he  decided  to  go  back  to  Mexico 
at  once.     To  this  Father  Serra  strenuously  objected  and  finally  ob- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  11 

tained  from  his  commaiicling  officer  an  extension  of  one  more  day  he- 
fore  sailing.  He  fell  on  his  knees  and  wrestled  with  the  Lord  until 
at  the  end  of  his  day  of  grace,  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  western  horizon, 
were  gladdened  by  sight  of  the  sails  of  a  relief  ship  which  had  been 
sent  out  from  Mexico.  From  this  time  on,  the  work  of  the  missions 
prospered  and  the  neo])hytes  were  in  a  few  years  numl>ered  by  sev- 
eral thousand,  with  flocks  and  herds  covering  the  hills  and  valleys 
of  the  "new  world." 

Having  acquired  additional  details  as  to  the  location  of  Monterey, 
Portola,  on  the  seventeenth  of  April,  1770,  with  a  party  of  20  soldiers 
under  command  of  I.ieut.  Pages,  started  again  for  the  lost  harbor. 
On  May  twent}-fiiurth,  they  re-discovered  the  object  of  their  search 
and  on  May  thirty-first,  the  ship  San  .\ntonio,  commanded  by  Capt. 
Juan  Perez,  the  first  sail  that  was  ever  spread  over  the  waters  of  that 
bay,  entered  the  harbor  of  Monterey.  From  that  time  forward  for  a 
half  century  or  more,  Monterey  was  the  chief  city  of  California. 

The  Founding  of  S.^n  Gabriel  .\nd  Los  An'gele.s 

There  were  at  the  opening  of  1771  only  two  European  settle- 
ments in  California,  San  Diego  and  Monterey.  Felipe  de  Neve,  the 
jjrogressive  governor  of  .-\lta  California,  having  been  instructed  by  his 
superiors  in  1776  to  make  observations  of  the  country  with  regard  to 
its  agricultural  and  other  possibilities,  recommended  that  two  pueblos 
be  established,  one  on  the  Rio  de  Porciuncula  CLos  Angeles),  and  the 
other  on  the  Rio  de  Guadalupe  (near  San  Jose),  and  Don  Fernando  de 
Rivera  y  Moncado,  was  instructed  to  begin  a  campaign  in  L<nver  Cal- 
ifornia for  volunteer  settlers  in  the  cities  to  be  founded. 

The  government  offered  what  might  be  considered  very  alluring 
inducements  to  these  settlers  in  the  payment  of  money  and  grant  of 
lands  for  homes,  but  the  desire  for  the  ownership  of  homes  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  developed  as  yet  in  the  minds  of  the  few  Euro- 
peans who  had  come  to  .^.merica,  probably  because  they  had  been 
drawn  from  their  home  countries  in  the  first  place  by  the  love  of  ad- 
venture; and  the  building  up  of  homes,  associated  as  it  always  has 
been  more  or  less  with  the  expenditure  of  laborious  effort,  did  not 
appeal  to  their  ideas  of  independent  indolence,  .^t  any  rate,  after  nine 
months'  labor  he  only  procured  fourteen  pobladores  (settlers)  to  join 
his  expedition.  To  these  prospective  settlers  the  government  had 
agreed  to  pay  $116.00  yearly  for  two  years  and  to  provide  them  with 
stock  and  tools  and  to  buy  from  them  their  products. 

Father  Serra  had  gone  out  a  little  ways  from  Monterey  in  1770. 
and  founded  his  favorite  mission  at  El  Carmelo.  From  his  headquar- 
ters there  he  had  sent  orders  to  Fathers  Somera  and  Cambon  at  San 
Diego,  to  establish  a  mission  in  a  certain  location  to  the  northward 
and  call  it  San  Gabriel.  The  two  priests  promptly  obeyed  orders  and 
left  San  Diego  with  a  guard  of  ten  men.  On  August  17,  1771,  they  ar- 
rived at  the  site  previously  selected  and  planted  the  emblem  of  their 
faith.  Three  or  four  mission  buildings  on  different  sites  are  said  to 
have  been  constructed  until  the  present  site  was  finally  determined  on 


12  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

for  a  permanency.  The  party  which  arrived  at  the  site  of  the  mission 
consisted  of  eleven  famihes  and  the  military  escort;  but  from  this 
small  nucleus  San  Gabriel  soon  developed  into  one  of  the  most  popu- 
lous and  successful  of  the  missions.  It  became  a  place  of  importance 
as  a  stop-over  on  the  Kings  Highway  from  Monterey  to  San  Diego, 
Governor  de  Neve  making  it  his  headquarters  very  frequently  when  in 
the  southern  part  of  his  territory. 

It  was  from  San  Gabriel  that,  on  September  4,  1781,  the  gov- 
ernor led  out  a  small  body  of  people  marching  westward  eight  miles 
to  a  point  previously  selected  for  the  building  of  a  pueblo  to  be  known 
as  Pueblo  de  Neustra  Senora  La  Reina  de  Los  Angeles.  The  city  was 
founded  with  much  ceremony,  religious  and  military.  The  pioneer 
settlers  on  that  memorable  day  were  eleven  families,  none  of  the  mem- 
bers of  which  could  read  or  write.  At  this  distance  of  time  it  may  be 
unkind  to  do  so,  but  there  is  a  strong  temptation  to  call  them  "a  job 
lot"  of  first  families.  Certainly  they  were  a  cosmopolitan  body  and  in 
that  respect  were  typical  of  the  great  city  that  was  to  grow  from  that 
small  beginning.  It  is  as  little  as  posterity  can  do  for  them  to  attempt 
to  keep  their  names  from  disappearing  from  the  records  of  memory, 
so  here  they  are:  Navarro,  a  Mestizo;  Villavicencio  and  De  Lara, 
Spaniards;  Miranda,  nationality  unknown;  Rosas,  Vanegas  and 
Rodriguez,  Indians;  Quintero,  negro;  Camero  and  Moreno,  mulattoes. 

Father  Crespi  who  passed  through  this  section  in  1769,  with  Por- 
tola  on  their  way  to  Monterey,  had  described  it  as  being  "the  best  lo- 
cality of  all  those  we  have  seen  for  a  Mission,  besides  having  all  the 
resources  required  for  a  great  town,"  which  indicates  that  he  had  in 
him  the  stuff  that  prophets  are  made  of  and  however  spiritual  he  may 
have  been,  was  not  without  worldly  wisdom  and  good  judgment.  It 
was  this  same  Father  Crespi  also,  who  on  the  journey  above  alluded 
to  and  in  the  diary  descriptive  of  the  same  which  he  wrote,  describes 
the  Arroyo  Seco  as  a  "dry"  river  and  gave  to  the  stream  it  opened  into 
the  name  of  Rio  de  Porciuncula  after  the  name  of  a  town  in  Italy. 
The  names  of  the  pueblo  (city)  and  of  the  river,  in  the  process  of  time 
became  reduced  to  more  acceptable  every-day  nomenclature. 

A  pueblo  consisted  of  three  square  leagues  of  land  to  be  distrib- 
uted among  settlers  for  house  lots  and  "sowing  land."  The  pueblo  of 
Los  Angeles  centered  around  the  square  that  is  now  known  as  the 
"Plaza,"  and  was  intended  to  extend  a  league  outward  from  that 
center  in  the  four  directions,  north,  south,  east  and  west.  There  was 
plenty  of  trouble  in  after  years  about  the  actual  boundaries  as  surveys 
at  that  time  were  largely  guesswork  and  natural  objects,  a  hill,  a 
mountain  or  a  tree  were  considered  the  proper  corner  marks. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Rancho  San  Rafael  at  the  junction  of  the 
Arroyo  Seco  and  the  Los  Angeles  river  ran  down  into  the  original 
pueblo  with  a  sharp  triangular  projection,  quite  a  distance.  The  grant 
to  the  Rancho  San  Rafael  antedated  the  grant  to  the  pueblo  about 
two  years,  and  being  dated  October,  1784,  was  the  first  of  a  long  list 
of  grants  of  land  given  by  the  Spanish  governors  beginning  with  Gov. 
Fajes. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  RANCHO  SAN  RAFAEL  APPEARS 

ALSO  ONE  JOSE  MARIA  BERDUGO.  THE  FIRST  OF  THE  LAND 
GRANTS.  INDUCEMENTS  OFFERED  SETTLERS.  LAND  GOES  BEG- 
GING. THE  "FIRST  FAMILIES"  ARRIVE.  AMERICANS  BEGIN  TO 
COME  IN.    THE  PATENT  TO  THE  RANCHO. 

In  1784  the  San  Rafael  Rancho  appeared  on  the  pages  of  history. 
Lieutenant  Fajes.  whose  name  is  found  previous  to  this  time  as  being 
a  lieutenant  of  Catalonia  volunteers,  had  become  governor.  It  is  fair 
to  assume  that  he  had  his  favorites  among  the  soldiers  under  his  com- 
mand. It  is  not  quite  clear  whether  among  these  was  one  Jose  Maria 
Berdugo,  but  it  is  most  probable  that  this  was  the  case,  and  he  must 
certainly  have  stood  well  with  the  governor  to  be  the  first  one  to  se- 
cure a  grant  of  land  from  him,  for  the  San  Rafael  Rancho  heads  the  list 
in  point  of  time  of  the  hundreds  granted  under  the  Mexican  regime. 
The  governor,  having  no  established  precedent  to  guide  him,  exercised 
his  own  judgment  as  to  these  grants  and  after  giving  them  appealed 
to  his  superiors  for  confirmation  which  was  not  given  until  Governor 
Rorica  confirmed  some  of  them  in  1798,  the  San  Rafael  among  others. 
It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  so-called  grant  of  1784  was  merely  a 
permit  granted  under  certain  conditions.  The  ranch  was  also  known 
as  "La  Zanja,"  and  under  the  latter  name  it  was  occupied  by  Berdugo 
under  permit  from  Gov.  Borica,  which  allowed  him  to  settle  there  with 
his  relatives  and  family  and  property. 

A  sort  of  general  confirmation  of  the  granting  of  lands  was  given 
in  1786  by  Commanding  General  Ugarte,  the  conditions  being  that 
they  should  not  exceed  three  leagues  square  in  extent  and  must  be 
beyond  the  four  league  limits  of  the  pueblos.  They  were  not  to  injure 
the  missions  in  any  way;  a  stone  house  was  to  be  built  and  the  occu- 
pant of  the  ranch  was  to  raise  and  keep  at  least  2,000  head  of  stock. 
There  was  also  some  requirement  as  to  producing  a  certain  amount  of 
grain  yearly,  "two  fanegas  of  maize  or  wheat  for  a  fondo  de  proprias," 
to  be  spent  for  the  good  of  the  community.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
all  of  these  requirements  were  not  complied  with,  but  they  must  have 
been  in  a  great  measure  effective  as  the  number  of  live  stock  on  the 
ranches  rapidly  increased. 

The  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  settlements  in  a  few 
years  became  well  stocked  with  horses,  cattle  and  sheep,  but  there 
was  a  scarcity  of  manufactured  goods  as  intercourse  with  other  parts 
of  the  world  was  only  maintained  by  water  and  the  sailing  vessels  of 
that  period  could  not,  even  if  their  captains  wished,  conform  to  any- 
thing that  even  suggested  regularity  in  schedules.  It  is  related  that 
upon  one  occasion  a  man  who  owned  a  thousand  head  of  cattle  and 


14  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

horses  came  into  the  Mission  San  Gabriel  and  begged  cloth  for  a  shirt, 
as  there  were  none  to  be  had  at  pueblo  or  presidio.    This  was  in  1795. 

In  order  to  get  a  proper  perspective  of  conditions  at  this  period,  it 
is  advisable  to  compare  this  beginning  of  the  development  of  civiliza- 
tion on  the  Pacific  coast  with  the  history  that  was  being  made  else- 
where. The  Revolutionary  War  had  ended  by  the  surrender  of  Corn- 
wallis,  in  1781,  although  the  treaty  of  peace  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  newly  created  United  States  was  not  signed  until  1783,  the 
year  before  the  Rancho  San  Rafael  was  given  over  to  Jose  Maria  Ber- 
dugo.  By  this  treaty  the  complete  independence  of  this  country  had 
been  granted ;  Florida  had  been  re-ceded  to  Spain  and  the  remainder 
of  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  south  of  the  great  lakes  had 
been  declared  to  belong  to  the  United  States.  Washington  had  deliv- 
ered his  farewell  to  the  army  the  previous  year.  Over  in  France  the 
revolution  was  hatching  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte  had  not  yet  been 
heard  of  outside  of  his  native  Corsica.  Daniel  Boone  and  other  pio- 
neers were  blazing  the  waj'  for  civilization  in  Kentucky  and  else- 
where, and  the  great  Louisiana  Territory  stretching  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  to  Oregon,  was  to  the  white  man  practically  unknown. 

Manuel  Nieto  was  awarded  a  rancho  about  the  time  that  the 
Rancho  San  Rafael  was  bestowed  upon  Berdugo.  l^ut  he  lost  it,  al- 
though he  had  been  its  recognized  owner  for  a  number  of  years, 
through  a  decision  of  the  United  States  Land  Commission  which  was 
upheld  by  the  Supreme  Court.  Other  land  granted  to  Nieto  also  ap- 
])ears  to  have  been  taken  from  him  on  the  plea  of  the  missions  that  it 
was  needed  by  the  Indians  attached  to  the  San  Gabriel  Mission.  The 
mission  authorities  were  practically  supreme  during  this  period  and 
they  were  very  jealous  of  the  rights  of  the  natives  who  had  come 
within  the  mission  fold.  It  is  related  tliat  in  1797,  the  Rancho  Encino 
belonging  to  Francisco  Reyes,  with  its  buildings  which  he  had  placed 
upon  it,  was  appropriated  for  the  use  of  the  Mission  San  Fernando. 

In  1795  the  San  Rafael  Rancho  was  visited  by  a  party  seeking  a 
site  for  another  mission.  In  this  same  year  the  region  between  San 
Buena  Ventura  and  San  Gabriel  was  explored  by  a  party  composed  of 
Father  Santa  Maria.  Alfred  Cota.  Sergt.  Ortega  and  four  men.  in  ac- 
cordance with  orders  issued  by  the  Governor.  They  reported  that  the 
Encino  Rancho  then  held  by  Reyes  was  well  adapted  for  mission  pur- 
poses but  the  natives  thereabouts  did  not  seem  to  be  desirous  of  being 
civilized  and  had  no  use  for  missionaries.  Among  the  places  visited 
was  "Tuyunga"  where  the  "Pagans"  were  found  to  be  cultivating 
land  on  their  own  account. 

In  1795  there  were  about  sixteen  ranches  held  provisionally  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Monterey  and  Los  .'Vngeles  by  a  like  number  of  men 
and  upon  these  ranches  were  several  thousand  head  of  live  stock.  At 
the  end  of  the  century  there  were  eighteen  missions  and  four  presid- 
ios, the  latter  without  settlers,  who  when  obtained  would  enable  the 
government  to  establish  the  presidios  as  pueblos  giving  to  each  of  the 
settlers  house  lots  and  land  for  grain.  Of  the  three  pueblos  estab- 
lished up  to  this  time,  there  were  attached  to  all  something  over  one 
hundred   families,  each  of  whom  held  four  acres  of  land  subject  to 


GLENDAI.E  AND  VICINITY  15 

certain  conditions,  among  whicli  was  the  stipulation  that  tlie  property 
was  not  to  be  hypothecated.  There  were  some  twenty  or  thirty  men 
raising  cattle  on  lands  to  which  they  had  no  legal  title  but  the  use  of 
which  was  allowed  them  by  some  form  of  permit.  Some  of  these  lat- 
ter (lid,  however,  subsequently  obtain  titles.  In  1800  the  white  popula- 
tion in  the  state  did  not  e.\ceed  600.  exclusive  of  the  soldiers.  There 
being  such  a  small  number  of  whites  to  draw  upon  and  the  desire  of 
the  Spanish  government  being  to  do  everything  possible  to  develop 
this  great  territory,  it  may  readily  be  imagined  that  it  was  not  dif- 
ficult for  any  white  man  to  get  hold  of  public  land. 

At  this  time  and  upon  this  scene  enters  Jose  Maria  Berdugo  (the 
"B"  in  the  evolution  towards  English  presently  giving  way  to  "V"), 
Corporal  or  Captain  of  "the  San  Diego  Company."  alluded  to  by  Ban- 
croft as  a  "retired  Corporal"  of  that  company  and  yet  again  referred 
to  elsewhere  as  "Captain  of  the  Guard  at  San  Gabriel."  One  may 
easily  imagine  this  "Soldier  of  the  King,"  as  legend  says  he  delighted 
to  call  himself,  scouting  on  horseback  over  the  country  round  about 
the  Mission  at  which  he  was  stationed  and  developing  a  very  natural 
desire  to  be  the  possessor  of  some  of  its  unused  broad  acres.  No 
doubt  he  made  himself  familiar  with  the  streams  that  water  it,  par- 
ticularly the  Arroj'o  Seco;  originally  referred  to  as  Arroyo  Hondo 
(deep  arroyo),  and  the  Los  Angeles  river,  and  when  he  made  specific 
application  for  the  grant  which  he  received  from  Governor  Fages  on 
October  20,  1784,  it  is  noticeable  that  the  former  was  well  within 
the  scope  of  it  while  the  latter  formed  its  western  boundary.  Not 
much  is  known  of  Jose  Maria  Berdugo.  Bancroft  tells  us  that  he  was 
acting  Captain  of  the  Guards  at  San  Gabriel  until  he  retired  in  1784. 
lUit  there  are  of  record  several  facts  that  lead  us  to  logically  infer 
that  the  family  was  rather  numerous  for  that  time.  The  record  of  his 
marriage  as  found  in  the  archives  at  San  Gabriel  is  as  follows :  No- 
vember 7,  1779.  Joseph  (?)  Maria  Berdugo  (son  of  Juan  Diego  Ber- 
dugo and  Maria  Ygnacia  Carrillo,  natives  of  the  Royal  Presidio  of 
Loreto),  and  Maria  de  la  Encarnacion,  daughter  of  Ygnacio  Lopez, 
native  of  Sinaloa. 

Bancroft  tells  of  one  Juan  Diego  X'erdugo  and  his  wife  Ygnacia 
Concepcion  Carilla,  at  San  Diego  in  1776.  These  were  evidently  the 
parents  of  Jose  Maria,  and  there  appears  on  the  records  at  San  Ga- 
l)riel  the  names  of  several  other  members  of  the  Verdugo  family  who 
were  contemporaries  of  the  grantee  of  the  San  Rafael  Rancho,  who 
must  have  been  related  to  him.  One  of  these  was  Joaquin  Verdugo 
whose  marriage  to  Guadeloupe  Buelna  occurred  September  23,  1798, 
and  who  died  Januar\'  25,  1832,  less  than  a  year  after  the  death  of 
Jose  Maria.  The  family  appears  to  have  been  one  of  importance,  nu- 
merically at  least,  at  the  close  of  the  century. 

.\nother  soldier  bearing  the  same  family  name  was  Sergeant 
Mariano  Berdugo  w'ho  came  north  with  Moncada  on  the  expedition 
of  1769.  He  seems  to  have  acquired  considerable  military  fame,  hav- 
ing enlisted  at  Loreta  in  1766,  ser\  ing  seven  years  each  in  the  capacity 
of  private,  corporal  and  sergeant.  He  served  in  several  Indian 
campaigns  and  his  name  appears  on  the  Register  at  San  Diego  as  hav- 


16  GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY 

ing  acted  in  the  capacity  of  godfather  at  the  first  baptism  celebrated 
there.  He  was  Commander  of  the  Guard  at  San  Luis  Obispo  in  1773 
and  Sergeant  at  Monterey  in  1787  when  he  was  evidently  discharged. 
His  first  wife  was  a  Lugo  and  the  second  was  a  member  of  the  Es- 
pinosa  family.  This  is  more  than  appears  on  record  in  regard  to  Jose 
Maria.  But  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  he  stood  well  in  the  estimation  of 
his  superior,  the  governor,  who  having  been  a  military  man  himself, 
probably  knew  Berdugo  while  both  were  in  the  army  and  thought 
well  enough  of  him  to  confer  upon  him  the  first  prize  when  he  began 
to  distribute  his  favors. 

He  is  alluded  to  briefly  during  the  following  thirty  or  forty 
years,  from  time  to  time,  and  appears  to  have  accumulated  much  live 
stock  and  to  have  produced  considerable  grain. 

On  October  20,  1797,  it  is  on  record  that  he  was  granted  permis- 
sion to  pasture  his  cattle  at  Arroyo  Hondo  on  a  guarantee  that  no 
harm  be  done  to  the  natives,  this  location  being  one  and  a  half  leagues 
from  San  Gabriel  on  the  road  to  Monterey.  This  was  probably  the 
road  that  passes  through  what  is  now  South  Pasadena  from  San  Ga- 
briel. On  November  12,  1798  he  petitioned  Gov.  Borica  for  permis- 
sion to  settle  on  his  property  at  "La  Zanja"  and  on  January  12,  1798. 
the  permission  was  granted  for  him  to  go  there  with  his  family  and 
relatives,  and  in  addition  to  other  requirements  he  was  to  raise  sheep 
as  well  as  horses  and  cattle.  This  was  two  years  after  the  ranch  had 
been  visited,  as  previously  related,  by  the  party  seeking  a  mission  site, 
and  it  is  probable  that  Berdugo's  delay  in  settling  on  the  property 
awarded  to  him,  was  caused  by  some  uncertainty  as  to  whether  the 
land  would  be  taken  for  mission  purposes  or  not.  In  1801  there  was 
a  call  sent  out  for  a  list  of  the  ranches  that  could  be  relied  upon  to 
furnish  grain  for  export,  and  the  Rancho  San  Rafael  was  one  that 
responded  favorably.  The  grain  was  probably  wanted  for  shipment 
to  Mexican  ports  as  with  San  Bias  in  Lower  California  a  very  irregu- 
lar traffic  was  maintained. 

For  a  few  years  affer  the  founding  of  Los  Angeles,  there  were 
not  many  additions  to  the  number  of  the  pueblo  citizens  from  the 
outside  except  retired  soldiers  from  the  Mission  at  San  Gabriel  who 
appear  to  have  in  a  number  of  instances,  upon  being  relieved  of  their 
military  duties,  retired  with  their  families  to  private  life  in  the  new 
city.  We  learn  from  the  will  of  Jose  Maria  Berdugo,  which  will  be 
presented  further  on  in  this  history,  that  he  came  to  San  Gabriel 
from  Loreto  and  it  is  probable  that  he  had  already  been  married  to  a 
native  of  Lower  California  some  considerable  time  before  coming 
north. 

Quoting  from  W'illard's  History  of  Los  Angeles:  "By  1790,  the 
number  of  householders  had  increased  from  9  to  28  with  a  total  popu- 
lation of  139."  The  same  author  also  states  that  among  the  names  of 
the  twenty  new  families,  are  a  number  that  are  now  common  in 
Southern  California,  among  them  such  as  Garcia,  Figueroa,  Domin- 
gues,  Pico,  Reyes,  Ruiz.  Lugo,  Sepulveda  and  Verdugo.  The  "first 
citizens"  who  founded  the  pueblo  seem  not  to  have  made  much  more 
history    after    the  formal    start    of    the    cit}',   except   in    the   criminal 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  17 

records  which  show  that  several  of  them  proved  to  be  undesirables, 
one  or  two  being  formally  expelled  as  having  moral  characteristics 
which  made  them  quite  unfit  for  the  responsibility  of  good  citizenship. 
But  the  rci)resentatives  of  the  families  named  above  seem  to  have 
been  a  quite  different  type  of  citizens,  for  their  descendants  have  as  a 
rule  played  an  honorable  part  in  the  development  and  upbuilding  of 
the  state  during  the  century  and  a  (luarter  that  has  elapsed  since  that 
time.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  retired  Captain  of  the  Guard 
became  a  citizen  of  the  pueblo  very  early  in  its  history. 

Bancroft  says  that  the  name  appears  frequently  in  the  early 
records  chiefly  in  connection  with  farming  operations,  which  indi- 
cates that  he  did  not  let  all  of  his  acreage  lie  idle.  He  raised  stock 
and  grain  and  evidently  planted  a  vineyard  and  followed  the  example 
of  primitive  people  throughout  history  from  Noah's  time  to  the  pres- 
ent, of  converting  grapes  into  wine,  as  his  last  Will  and  Testament 
indicates  that  he  left  some  behind  to  make  glad  the  hearts  of  his 
friends.  It  meant  work  to  produce  a  crop  of  grain  or  to  bring  a  vine- 
yard into  bearing  in  1800.  in  Southern  California. 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  conditions  then  existing  in  the  newly 
discovered  country.  In  Bible  times  there  was  nothing  more  primi- 
tive. To  form  a  mental  picture  (jf  the  threshing  of  grain  by  piling  it 
on  a  floor  and  driving  horses  over  it  until  it  was  threshed  and  then 
winnowing  it  by  throwing  it  against  the  wind,  does  not  require  as 
much  of  an  effort  in  the  present  day  as  it  does  to  imagine  the  farmer 
turning  over  the  ground  with  a  wooden  plow,  and  yet  by  such  means 
did  Don  Jose  Maria  Berdugo  and  his  sons  carry  on  the  farming  op- 
erations which  enabled  them  to  get  results  which  no  doubt  in  their 
day  fixed  the  retired  Captain  of  the  Guard  in  the  opinion  of  a  host  of 
dependents,  as  considerable  of  a  personage. 

For  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  century  there  was  comparative 
peace  in  California  and  the  pioneers  were  left  pretty  much  alone  to 
care  for  their  flocks  and  herds  and  carry  on  their  limited  agricultural 
operations  without  intrusion  from  the  world  outside.  But  about 
1820  the  foreigners  began  to  dribble  in  on  the  occasional  vessels  that 
reached  the  coast  and  a  few  years  later  tliey  began  to  arrive  overland, 
much  to  the  wonderment  and  consternation  of  the  natives,  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  subseqent  events  proved  that  their  alarm  at  this  in- 
vasion of  the  "gringoes"  was  well  founded. 

Joseph  Chapman  was  about  the  first  white  man  to  arrive  from  the 
-Atlantic  side  of  the  continent,  coming  in  1820  and  proving  to  be  a 
verj'  useful  citizen,  aiding  materially  in  building  the  Plaza  church  in 
Los  Angeles.  Then  followed  John  Tem])le  in  1829,  Abel  Stearns  in 
1828.  John  J.  Warner  in  1829  and  so  on.  A  great  many  of  these  early 
comers  married  Spanish  women  and  some  of  their  descendants  are 
[)rominent  today  in  our  community. 

When  the  19th  century  opened,  the  work  of  civilization  in  Cali- 
fornia had  scarcely  begun.  The  white  settlers  were  clustered  around 
the  missions  in  the  vicinity  of  Monterey,  Los  .'\ngeles  and  San  Diego. 
One  authority  states  that  there  were  in  Los  Angeles  315  families  at 
this  time,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  most  of  them  were  Indians. 


18  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

The  efforts  of  the  Mexican  government  to  secure  settlers  appear 
to  have  been  made  in  sincerity,  but  were  not  followed  by  much  suc- 
cess, and  upon  the  Franciscans  more  and  more  as  time  went  on  de- 
pended the  continuation  of  all  efforts  to  develop  the  country  which 
with  all  of  its  natural  resources  had  been  thrown  by  Providence  into 
the  lap  of  Spain.  The  fathers  took  good  care  of  their  neophytes, 
looking  well  after  both  their  physical  and  spiritual  needs,  but  they 
were  zealous  about  the  upbuilding  of  the  church  and  cared  little  about 
affairs  of  state,  and  seem  to  have  become  rather  independent  and  in 
the  end  of  their  era  of  power  were  not  looked  upon  as  being  specially 
loyal  to  the  Crown.  They  seem  to  have  been  able  to  develop  in  the 
natives  a  certain  measure  of  effectiveness  which  enabled  them  to  be 
more  or  less  self  sustaining  as  long  as  under  the  church's  paternal 
control,  but  quickly  lapsed  towards  their  original  condition  as  soon 
as  this  was  removed,  as  it  was  later  when  the  government  took  over 
the  missions.  The  country  had  become  well  stocked  with  cattle, 
horses  and  sheep  and  grain  were  produced  to  some  extent,  but  the 
lack  of  manufactured  goods  was  seriously  felt.  The  houses  of  even 
the  most  prosperous  ranchers  were  poor  affairs.  One  of  the  stipula- 
tions imposed  upon  the  holder  of  the  land  grants  was  that  a  house 
should  be  erected  that  should  cost  $200.00. 

The  patent  to  the  ranch  was  granted  by  the  United  States  under 
date  of  January  28,  1882,  almost  a  full  century  after  the  date  of  the 
first  grant.  The  patent  begins  by  reciting  the  fact  that  a  petition  had 
been  filed  by  Julio  and  Catalina  Berdugo  (the  heirs  of  Jose  Maria), 
dated  October  21,  1852,  with  the  commissioners  appointed  to  hear 
and  settle  private  land  claims  in  the  state  of  California;  that  on  Sep- 
tember 11,  1855,  the  commission  rendered  its  decree,  to  wit:  the  claim 
is  therefore  valid  and  it  is  therefore  decreed  that  the  same  be  con- 
firmed; that  the  land  is  the  same  formerly  decreed  to  Don  Jose  Maria 
Berdugo,  formerly  known  by  the  name  of  "Zanja"  and  now  known  as 
San  Rafael  and  is  located  about  a  league  and  a  half  from  the  Mission 
San  Gabriel.  Then  apparently  quoting  the  brief  description  set  forth 
in  the  petition,  the  patent  goes  on  to  say:  Commencing  at  the  source 
of  the  Arroyo  Hondo,  which  arroyo  crosses  old  road  running  frt)m  the 
Mission  of  San  Gabriel  to  Monterey  at  distance  of  about  one  and  a 
half  leagues  from  said  Mission,  said  boundary  line  running  from 
source  of  said  arroyo  down  said  stream  to  mouth  at  river,  then  up 
river  to  the  place  where  said  river  issues  from  the  sierra  to  the  moun- 
tain called  Cahuenga;  thence  in  a  northerly  direction  from  said  moun- 
tain to  the  Cerrito  Colorado  and  from  thence  to  the  place  of  begin- 
ning. The  patent  then  proceeds  to  state  that  "whereas  there  has 
been  deposited  certain  notes,  certificates  of  advertising,  plot  of  sur- 
vey in  words  and  figures  as  follows";  all  being  dated  Surveyor  Gen- 
eral's office,  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  February  4,  1871.  At  this  point  be- 
gins a  description  of  the  ranch  which  leaves  nothing  to  guess  work 
but  which  follows  the  boundaries  of  the  propert}'  minutely,  beginning 
as  follows:  "Beginning  at  a  post  at  S.  E.  corner  of  station  No.  79 
of  Rancho  La  Canada  and  station  No.  11  of  Rancho  San  Pascual 
standing  on  west  of  the  bottom  land  of  the  Arroyo  Seco  from  which 


GLKXDAI.K  -WD  \  IClMTV  19 

a  sycamore  tree  10  inches  in  diameter  bears  85°  \V..  28  links  distant; 
thence  down  the  Canada  of  the  Arroyo  Seco  along  line  of  Rancho  San 
Pascual — thence  leaving  the  line  of  the  Ranch  San  Pascual  meander- 
ing down  the  center  of  the  arroyo  S.  34°  15'  \\'.,  4  chains  to  stake, 
etc,  etc.,  to  Pneblo  lands;  thence  meandering  up  river  to  station  in 
Rancho  Los  Feliz  to  corner  of  Rancho  La  Providencia ;  thence  along 
line  of  Rancho  La  Providencia.  leaving  which  line  it  crosses  the  road 
from  Mission  San  Galsriel  to  Monterey,  course  east  and  west,  ascends 
steep  brushy  mountains  to  top  of  sharp  red  peak  called  'Serrita  Col- 
orado" (red  mountain),  thence  descending  over  brushy  hills  north  to  a 
live  oak  tree  ten  inches  in  diameter  standing  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Canada  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  in  the  east  side  of  the  Puerte  Suelo 
of  Tejunga  at  corner  number  13  of  Rancho  Tejunga  and  corner  num- 
ber one  of  Rancho  La  Canada;  thence  along  the  southerlj-  line  of 
Rancho  La  Canada  along  foot  of  the  mountain  on  the  south  side  of 
the  canon." 

There  are  a  few  thousand  more  words  of  descrii)tion  following 
the  above  the  conclusion  being  as  follows :  "Thence  crossing  La  Can- 
ada de  los  Bergudos  south  67  degree  ?iO  minutes  east  at  forty  chains, 
leaves  Canada  thence  over  brushy  brown  hills  344  chains  to  the  place 
of  beginning,  containing  36,403.21  acres  and  designated  on  the  plats 
of  public  surveys  as  Lot  46  in  Township  of  one  North  of  range  12 
west." 

In  witness  whereof  3d  day  of  February,  1871. 

SHERMAN  DAY,  U.  S.  Surveyor  Gen.  for  California. 

In  conclusion  the  patent  "gives  and  grants  to  Julio  Berdugo  and 
Catalina  Berdugo  the  tract  of  land  described  in  said  survey,"  and  is 
signed  by  the  President,  Chester  A.  ;\rthur,  by  W'm.  II.  Crook.  Sec- 
retary and  S.  \V.  Clark,  Recorder  of  the  (ieneral  Land  Office. 

The  above  extract  from  the  copy  of  the  patent  is  given  in  detail 
as  of  interest  in  one  or  two  particulars  to  all  who  are  interested  in 
the  property.  It  indicates  that  however  loosely  the  ranch  might  have 
been  described  at  the  time  the  grant  was  given  and  for  many  years 
afterwards,  there  is  no  looseness  in  the  methods  of  the  Land  Com- 
mission and  that  the  survey  contains  all  the  details  that  can  be  re- 
quired in  bomuling  the  property.  It  ties  the  San  Rafael  down  to  its 
adjacent  ranches,  Los  Feliz,  La  Providencia  (Hurliank),  La  Canada 
and  San  Pascual  (Pasadena),  and  touches  the  pueblo  of  Los  .\ngeles. 
A  matter  in  which  the  curious  minded  might  be  interested,  is  how- 
many  of  the  trees  used  as  hitching  posts  for  this  description  written 
fifty  years  ago,  are  still  standing  and  how  much  has  their  diameters 
increased  since  the  surveyors  of  that  day  submitted  them  to  the  metes 
and  bounds  of  the  tape  line. 


CHAPTER  III 
DON  JOSE  MARIA  VERDUGO  AND  HIS  SON  JULIO 

THE  LAND  CLAIMS  COURT  AND  THE  PATENT  TO  THE  RANCHO. 
LOOSE  METHODS  OF  PASSING  TITLE  AND  RECORDING  PROPERTY. 
HOUSES  OF  THE  VERDUGOS.  THEIR  AGRICULTURAL  ACTIVITIES. 
THE  MISSIONS  AND  THEIR  CHARGES.  THE  FIRST  RECORDED 
TROUBLE  OVER  THE  WATER  QUESTION.  THE  WILL  OF  DON  JOSE 
MARIA  VERDUGO. 

By  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  made  public  by  President 
Polk  in  May,  1848,  Mexico  ceded  to  the  United  States  all  the  terri- 
tory north  of  tlie  Gila  river  including  California  and  Arizona  and  the 
same  treaty  made  provisions  for  admitting  to  citizenship  of  the  United 
States  such  Mexicans  residing  in  the  ceded  territory  as  desired  to  so 
change  their  allegiance.  In  1824  Mexico  had  passed  a  law  providing 
for  the  validation  of  land  grants  to  her  citizens,  but  even  under  this 
and  similar  laws  the  titles  to  many  of  the  grants  were  imperfect.  In 
March,  1851.  Congress  passed  "an  Act  to  ascertain  and  settle  the 
private  land  claims  in  the  state  of  California."  This  law  provided 
for  a  Board  of  Commissioners  to  receive  petitions  for  confirmation, 
and  declared  that  "all  lands,  claims  to  which  have  not  been  presented 
to  said  commission  within  two  years  after  date  of  this  act,  shall  be 
deemed  held  and  considered  part  of  the  public  domain  of  the  United 
States." 

Under  the  provisions  of  this  act  and  after  a  vast  amount  of  work 
by  the  commission,  a  large  number  of  claims  were  approved  as  was 
that  to  the  Rancho  San  Rafael,  but  other  claimants  were  not  always 
so  fortunate.  In  one  case,  that  of  Dominguez  to  the  Rancho  Los 
Virgenes,  through  failure  to  petition  or  by  some  other  technicality, 
title  was  lost  by  the  owner  although  it  had  been  his  home  for  many 
years  and  his  right  to  the  property  under  Mexican  rule  was  undis- 
puted. In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  law,  the  Berdugos 
filed  their  petition  on  October  21,  1852.  The  Board  of  Commissioners 
dismissed  all  appeals  and  confirmed  the  title  in  June,  1857.  Just  why 
the  delay  in  issuing  the  patent  was  permitted,  is  unexplained,  ex- 
cept possibly  by  the  fact  that  the  matter  was  not  being  pushed  by 
anyone  interested  and  the  naturally  slow  movement  of  governmental 
machinery. 

From  1784  to  1882  is  a  long  stretch  of  time,  lacking  only  two 
years  of  a  century,  in  which  to  work  out  the  confirmation  of  a  deal 
in  real  estate,  and  quite  possibly  if  the  ranch  had  not  up  to  this  time 
begun  to  pass  out  of  the  possession  of  the  original  owners,  the  patent 
would  still  be  under  the  heading  of  "unfinished  business." 

There  was  a  Mariano  Verdugo  whose  relationship  to  Don  Jesus 


OLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  21 

Maria  of  "Los  \'erflugos,"  is  unknown,  hut  he  was  a  personage  of 
some  importance.  He  is  alluded  to  as  "Sergeant  Mariana  de  la  los 
Verdugo,"  and  held  lands  for  stock  raising  purposes  near  Cahuenga 
from  1787  to  1810.  A  grant  was  issued  to  him  for  the  Rancho  Por- 
tezuelo,  described  as  being  situated  "about  four  leagues  from  Los 
Angeles  on  the  main  road."  This  appears  to  have  been  one  of  nu- 
merous grants  which  were  not  confirmed.  Willard  states  in  his  his- 
tory of  Los  Angeles  that  Mariano  Verdugo  was  third  alcalde  of  Los 
.'Angeles  about  1800.  It  is  quite  probable  that  the  land  which  was 
given  to  him  was  an  "over-lapping"  grant  included  in  the  San  Rafael 
or  another  of  the  larger  grants,  as  the  surveys  of  that  day  were  pretty 
much  guesswork.  It  is  said  that  one  of  the  methods  of  measuring 
land  was  for  two  horsemen  to  take  a  long  riata  of  rawhide,  one  of 
them  at  each  end,  and  measure  from  the  saddle.  In  addition  to  the 
other  uncertainties  which  this  method  resulted  in.  the  stretching  of 
the  raw  hide,  particularly  if  green,  would  result  in  plenty  of  trouble 
for  the  real  surveyor  who  followed  their  course  in  later  years.  This, 
with  the  loose  descriptions  of  properties,  led  to  litigation  which  at 
one  time  appeared  to  be  endless  and  the  wonder  is  that  order  was 
ever  brought  out  of  such  a  state  of  chaos. 

The  first  description  of  the  Rancho  San  Rafael,  or,  "Zanja"  which 
we  encounter  in  the  archives,  is  beautifully  brief;  it  is  therein  de- 
clared that  "it  is  four  leagues  from  Los  Angeles  across  the  river."  It 
was  in  1836  when  written  titles  began  to  be  issued  and  from  that  time 
forward  there  was  an  abundance  of  work  for  the  lawyers  although  it 
was  twenty  years  or  more  later  that  the  members  of  the  legal  fra- 
ternity began  to  come  in,  in  great  numbers,  and  found  a  fine  field  for 
their  professional  services.  Maps  issued  about  the  beginning  of  the 
century  show  "Los  Verdugos"  as  one  of  the  points  worth  noting. 

The  location  of  the  first  of  the  Verdugo  houses  is  uncertain. 
There  have  been  residences  from  jacales  to  adobes  at  various  places 
all  the  way  from  the  Los  Angeles  river  over  as  far  as  Garvanza,  the 
weight  of  evidence  being  in  favor  of  a  location  near  the  river,  princi- 
pally because  of  the  fact  that  proximity  to  the  water  supply  would  be 
considered  a  prime  essential  in  selecting  the  first  location.  Later, 
when  the  property  began  to  be  developed,  water  ditches  would  be  con- 
structed and  the  canyon  stream  be  utilized  and  carried  anywhere  that 
it  might  be  needed  down  into  the  valley  and  around  the  foothills  to 
the  westward,  where  it  is  very  probable  one  or  more  houses  were 
built  at  a  comparatively  early  date. 

The  jacales  were  cheap  temporary  places  of  residences,  con- 
structed of  brush  or  willows  principally,  with  a  thatched  roof  which 
in  some  instances  was  covered  partially  at  least,  with  brea  from  the 
tar  pits  between  Los  Angeles  and  the  ocean.  Some  of  the  adobes 
were  never  completed  as  far  as  a  roof  of  any  permanence  was  con- 
cerned, probabl)'  being  used  only  for  summer  residences.  This  seems 
to  have  been  the  case  with  some  of  the  adobes  constructed  by  Julio 
Verdugo  who  succeeded  his  father,  Jose  Maria,  in  1832.  The  house 
which  Julio  built  on  the  top  of  the  hill  at  Garvanza,  and  the  remains 


22  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

of  which  were  in  evidence  until  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago,  is  said 
by  an  old  resident  who  remembers  it  well,  to  have  been  deficient  in 
this  particular.  This  was  the  "new  house"  which  Jacob  Elias  al- 
luded to  in  his  testimony  in  the  foreclosure  suit  in  1865,  when  he 
testified  that  the  lumber  in  it  was  one  of  the  things  he  had  furnished 
the  defendant.  The  old  settler  alluded  to  above  expresses  doubts 
as  to  any  lumber  having  been  used  in  the  structure,  but  there  were 
corrals  constructed  in  connection  with  it  in  which  lumber  might  have 
been  used.  The  "old  house,"  frequently  alluded  to  in  the  testimony 
taken  at  the  trial  just  referred  to,  appears  to  have  been  located  near 
what  is  now  Kenneth  Road,  being  one  of  several  adobes  which  were 
still  standing  in  that  vicinity  when  the  writer  of  this  first  knew  the 
Rancho  San  Rafael  in  the  earl}-  eighties. 

The  "old  settler"  again  testifying,  informs  us  that  previous  to 
1870,  when  the  present  owner  came  into  possession,  there  was  another 
adobe  house  on  the  Judge  Ross  property,  and  this  gives  rise  to  un- 
certainty as  to  whether  this  was  the  one  alluded  to  by  Julio  Verdugo 
when  he  testified  in  1865  to  having  "built  a  house  on  the  hill"  in  Ver- 
dugo Canyon  or  whether  he  referred  to  the  adobe  which  is  still  stand- 
ing and  being  used  as  a  residence  "near  the  cienegas"  in  that  vicin- 
ity. The  latter  phrase  would  however  seem  to  fix  the  existing  struc- 
ture as  the  house  built  by  Julio  in  1835. 

The  period  between  1800  and  1820  was,  probably,  the  most  peace- 
ful that  the  few  citizens  of  Spanish  descent  experienced  in  California. 
Their  wants  were  few  and  nature  supplied  their  necessities  with  but 
small  efifort  on  their  part.  They  raised  small  quantities  of  corn  and 
other  grains,  beans  and  a  few  other  vegetables.  They  planted  vine- 
yards about  their  houses  and  made  wine.  There  were  fish  in  the  sea 
and  in  the  mountain  streams  and  bear  and  deer  in  the  nearby  hills 
and  mountains  and  smaller  game  in  large  numbers,  including  wild 
fowl  on  the  lagoons  toward  the  ocean.  They  had  flocks  and  herds 
that  were  numbered  by  thousands.  Fear  and  faction  had  not  begun 
to  plague  them  and  around  them  was  the  "climate  of  California"  with 
air  of  purity  and  sunshine  as  genial  as  the  world  anywhere  bestows 
on  man. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  third  decade  of  the  century,  however, 
until  the  country  came  under  the  "Stars  and  Stripes,"  the  history  of 
California  appears  to  consist  of  a  recital  of  the  story  of  one  petty 
revolution  after  another,  as  the  numerous  would-be  leaders  strove 
among  themselves  to  gain  power. 

Between  Monterey  in  the  nurtli  and  Los  Angeles  in  the  south 
there  was  unceasing  rivalry,  the  former  being  the  first  cai)ital  of  the 
country  and  its  people  being  unwilling  to  give  up  their  i)olitical  su- 
premacy after  the  Mexican  authorities  had  decreed  that  llos  Angeles 
should  be  the  seat  of  government.  Mention  of  the  Verdugo  family 
does  not  appear  in  connection  with  any  of  these  disturbances,  until  in 
1846  "Los  Verdugos"  is  mentioned  as  a  place  of  rendezvous  for  some 
of  the  forces  that  oflfered  a  feeble  resistance  to  the  .Americans  under 
Fremont.     It  seems  to  follow,  therefore,  that  the  retired  Captain  of 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  23 

the  Guard  having  laid  aside  the  weapons  of  war  confined  his  efforts  to 
the  arts  of  peace  for  the  lialance  of  his  natural  life. 

From  1830  to  1840  the  missions,  their  ])roperty,  their  converts  and 
practically  all  of  their  wonderful  accomplishments  during  the  half 
century  of  their  history,  under  the  policy  of  the  Mexican  government 
of  giving  "freedom"  to  the  natives  and  property  to  the  government, 
melted  away  and  became  little  more  than  a  rememhrance  with  the  re- 
mains of  ruined  mission  structures  up  and  down  the  coast  of  Cali- 
fornia to  remind  those  of  us  who  came  along  after  them  of  the  fact 
that  once  the)'  were.  Thousands  of  cattle  were  butchered  for  their 
hides  when  it  became  apparent  to  the  padres  that  they  were  doomed 
to  confiscation  by  the  state,  and  it  is  said  that  in  the  two  years,  1834  to 
1836,  a  hundred  thousand  cattle  from  the  Mission  San  Gabriel  alone, 
were  slaughtered.  .And  the  Indians  disappeared  as  promptly,  scatter- 
ing over  the  country  as  vagabonds  loosened  from  restraint  and  the 
guiding  power  of  the  padres  that  had  lifted  them  temporarily  from 
their  low  estate;  they  passed  quickly  from  the  scene  where  his- 
tory was  being  made,  perhaps  too  rapidly.  An  investigation  by  an 
.American  named  Hartwell  in  1839  showed  that  25.000  of  the  natives 
had  disappeared  up  to  that  date. 

Early  in  the  century  trouble  occurred  between  the  padres  aiul  the 
people  of  Los  Angeles  over  the  water  question,  the  first  instance  on 
record,  to  be  followed  all  down  through  the  years  to  the  present  date 
by  controversies  over  that  most  prolific  cause  of  trouble  in  a  dry  land. 
The  mission  authorities  had  diverted  the  water  of  the  Los  Angeles 
river  from  its  bed  near  Cahuenga  for  irrigation  of  the  mission  lands. 
The  Governor  decided  that  all  the  water  belonged  to  the  colonists  and 
the  dam  was  ordered  to  be  removed.  The  independence  of  Mexico  had 
been  achieved  in  September,  1821,  and  the  Spanish  flag  came  down 
from  its  position  over  the  capital  at  Monterey  and  elsewhere  in  Cali- 
fornia, but  the  change  did  not  affect  matters  greatly  in  California 
either  for  better  or  worse.  Land  transfers  continued  to  be  made  by 
word  of  mouth.  When  written  titles  came  into  vogue  about  1835  or 
1836  there  still  was  no  such  thing  as  a  book  of  records.  The  trans- 
action would  be  about  as  follows: 

.Antonio  Lopez  petitions  the  Honorable  Prefect,  with  a  lot  of  po- 
lite verbiage,  to  the  effect  that  he  needs  to  enlarge  his  domain  by 
a'^out  500  varas  and  that  he  denounces  the  land  lying  in  the  rear  of 
Antonio  Reyes.  The  Prefect  makes  a  notation  on  the  petition  to  let 
the  second  Justice  of  the  Peace  report  on  the  foregoing.  The  Justice 
examines  the  property  and  interviews  the  neighbors  to  see  if  there  are 
any  objections.  The  land  is  surveyed  and  finally  tlie  claim  is  ap- 
proved and  the  new  owner  put  in  possession.  All  of  the  ])apers  in  the 
case,  with  liberal  notes  on  the  margins,  constitute  an  "Expediente" 
and  are  stored  in  the  office  of  the  Prefect.  A  great  many  of  these 
papers  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  United  States,  and  great 
numbers  wound  up  in  the  waste  paper  receptacles  and  were  lost. 
When  land  was  transferred  the  early  custom  was  for  the  seller  to  i)ut 
the  new  owner  in  possession  by  passing  to  him  a  handful  of  the  earth 


24  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

from  his  newly  acquired  real  estate.  Other  things  than  real  estate 
were  sometimes  transferred,  as  for  instance  the  following  from  the 
records  shows:  "May  30,  1849,  Francisco  Villa  being  old,  gives  his 
two  daughters  to  L.  Victor  Prudhomme  and  wife,  and  if  party  of 
second  part  wishes  to  get  rid  of  them  they  agree  to  return  them  to 
me,  or  to  the  Judge  if  I  be  dead." 

Leon  accepts  the  gift  and  promises  to  comply  with  the  conditions. 

Jose  Maria  Verdugo  is  supposed  to  have  been  retired  from  mili- 
tary service  about  1784,  "invalided,"  but  the  48  years  of  what  was 
evidently  an  active  life  (taking  the  conditions  into  consideration),  that 
elapsed  before  he  departed  from  the  scene  of  his  human  activities, 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  he  fully  recovered  his  health,  although  he 
was  probably  something  of  an  invalid  during  the  last  few  years  of  his 
life,  as  in  the  will  that  he  made  on  August  13,  1828,  the  fact  of  illness 
is  set  forth  in  the  preamble.    He  died  April  12,  1832. 

The  will,  of  which  the  copy  that  follows  is  a  translation,  is  an 
intensely  human  document.  One  infers  from  the  phraseology  that  it 
may  have  been  written  by  some  "good  padre,"  who  took  care  to  get 
into  it  expressions  of  the  religious  faith  of  the  testator,  which  the 
latter  no  doubt  willingly  subscribed  to  although  not  literally  dictating 
them.  Although  the  will  was  contested  on  behalf  of  the  two  married 
daughters,  it  withstood  all  attacks  upon  its  validity  and  was  finally 
approved  by  the  court  in  1836.  In  this  document  it  will  be  noticed 
that  the  family  name  is  spelled  in  several  cases  with  a  "B"  and  it  will 
be  found  so  written  generally  in  the  records  up  to  about  1860.  But  in 
the  will  the  signature  is  written  "Verdugo"  which  is  no  doubt  the 
original  name  of  the  family,  but  was  Mexicanized  by  others. 

For  almost  half  a  century  the  retired  soldier  enjoyed  the  patri- 
mony bestowed  upon  him  by  his  monarch  and  his  last  will  and  testa- 
ment gives  evidence  of  this  prosperity,  for  he  owed  no  man,  but  others 
v.ere  owing  him  for  the  products  of  his  herds,  fields  and  vineyards. 
In  the  days  when  the  government  had  cause  to  call  upon  its  loyal  cit- 
izens to  furnish  their  quota  of  grain,  the  owner  of  the  San  Rafael 
rancho  was  always  found  named  among  those  who  could  be  depended 
on  to  furnish  that  which  was  needed.  He  died  and  his  mortal  remains 
were  interred  in  accordance  with  his  desires  in  the  sacred  resting 
place  at  the  Mission  San  Gabriel,  where  probably  his  wife,  Encarna- 
cion,  preceded  him  and  where  scores  of  his  descendants  have  since 
been  interred.  The  thousands  who  succeeded  him  and  covered  so 
many  of  the  broad  acres  of  his  domain  with  vine  clad  and  rose  em- 
bowered homes  with  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  an  era,  foremost  in 
the  files  of  time,  may  well  pause  for  a  moment  to  shape  in  their 
thoughts  a  hope  that  the  masses,  the  vigils  and  the  lying  in  state, 
may  have  efTectuall)-  guided  his  spirit  in  its  flight  to  the  land  that  is 
fairer  than  even  the  fair  one  that  he  lorded  over  here. 

The  following  is  the  record  of  his  interment  at  San  Gabriel : 

En  13  de  April  de  1831  an  el  cementerio  de  la  Iglesia  de  la  Mis- 
ion  del  Arcangel  San  Gabriel,  di  sepultura  eclesiastica  al  cadaver  de 
un  adulto  llamado  Jose  Maria  V^erdugo,  Cabo  invalide  retirado  que 


GLKXDALE  AND  VICINITY  25 

habia  sido  de  la  Caompania  dc  Caballerda  de  San  Diego,  el  cual  tnurio 
aver  habieiido  recibido  los  Santos  Sacramentos  de  Penitencia,  Eu- 
caristia  y  Extreinauncion. 

V  para  que  conste  lo  firme, 

Fr.  GERONIMO  BOSCANA. 
Will  of  Jose  Marlv  Verdugo 
(As  recorded  in  the  Spanish  Archives  of  Los  Angeles  County;  translated 

for  this  history.) 

In  the  Name  of  God  and  his  Most  Holy  Mother,  Our  Lady,  con- 
ceived in  grace  without  original  sin : 

Be  it  known  and  manifest  by  this  Written  Testament  and  my  last 
will,  that  I,  Jose  Maria  Berdugo,  Sargento  retired  invalid  from  the 
company  of  the  Port  of  San  Diego,  neighbor  of  the  town  of  Los  An- 
geles, native  of  the  Preside  of  Loreto,  widower  of  the  deceased  Maria 
Encarnacion  Lopez,  being  ill  but  of  sound  mind  and  memory,  and 
therefore  considering  that  it  is  natural  for  men  to  die,  and  that  in 
this  case  it  is  possible  at  any  hour  and  will  arrive  without  one's 
knowing  when,  believing  firmly,  as  I  do  believe,  in  the  Mystery  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  three  distinct  persons  and 
one  true  God;  and  in  all  that  which  our  Holy  Mother  Church  be- 
lieves and  confesses;  the  Most  Holy  Mary  being  iny  intercessor  and 
advocate,  as  it  was  asked  and  has  been  all  iny  life,  I  arrange  and 
make  my  Testament  in  the  following  forin  : 

First — Committing  my  soul  to  God,  it  is  my  will  that  my  body 
be  interred  with  the  service  of  the  Franciscan  Fathers  in  the  Church 
of  San  Gabriel,  with  mass  sung  while  the  body  is  lying  in  state;  if  it 
be  possible,  not  burying  ine  during  the  afternoon,  or  that  it  be  said 
for  me  the  following  day,  with  vigil  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
Church  and  as  my  executors  inay  direct. 

Item — it  is  my  will  that  three  nine  day  masses  be  said  for  me, 
where  they  can  say  them,  and  that  alms  be  given  for  their  value, 
and  that  the  religious  anniversary  of  my  death  be  observed. 

Item — it  is  my  will  that  all  my  legitimate  debts  be  paid  with- 
out deductions. 

Item — I  do  not  owe  any  one  anything. 

Item — I  declare  that  Jose  Maria  Aguilar  owes  me,  as  it  has  been 
set  forth  in  the  annatacion  dated  the  13  of  August  of  this  year,  the 
sum  of  174  pesos. 

Item — the  retired  chief  commander  Antonio  Maria  Castro  owes 
nie  the  sum  of  75  pesos  on  the  two  barrels  of  aguardiente  which  I  gave 
hiin  at  75  pesos  two  reales. 

Item — Teodosio  Flores  owes  me  the  sum  of  170  pesos  and  a  lead 
mule;  the  money  is  for  aguardiente. 

Item — Teodoro  Silbar  owes  ine  nine  jiesos  for  a  horse. 

Item — Ylario  Ruiz,  four  pesos  for  a  young  bull. 

Item — Seargeant  Ygnacio  Sesena  owes  me  24  pesos  for  three  fat 
cows,  an  ox  and  a  calf. 

Item — Jose  /\ntonio  Tapia  owes  me  16  pesos  for  two  cows  and  a 
big  bull. 


26  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Item — Domingo  Romero  owes  me  30  pesos  in  silver. 

Item — Francisco  Maria  Alvarado  owes  me  72i  pesos  for  a  barrel 
of  ag'uardiente. 

Item — The  company  of  San  Diego  owes  me  the  sum  of  1554*4 
pesos  of  my  fortune  since  the  year  1825  and  what  more  accrues  to  the 
present  year. 

Item — I  declare  that  I  have  four  children  living;  Maria  Josefa, 
Maria  Ygnacia.  Julio  and  Catalina;  and  one  more  dead,  named  Maria 
Antonia. 

Item — I  declare  that  I  have  put  under  their  control — first,  for  my 
daughter  Maria  Antonia,  whom  I  gave  thirty  cows  and  three  bulls,  a 
horse,  ten  yearling  lambs  and  the  necessarj'  trappings. 

Item — To  Maria  Ygnacia  twenty  fresh  cows  and  their  suckling 
female  calves,  and  twenty  more  with  hulls,  a  horse  and  the  necessary 
trappings. 

Item — She  furthermore  received  from  her  god-father  in  May, 
1814,  a  hundred  and  seventy-five  head  of  cattle  as  it  is  set  forth  in 
their  receipt  under  the  same  date. 

Item — Julio  Antonic^  Jose  Maria  received  126  cows  and  88  bulls, 
45  young  bulls,  a  herd  of  25  mares. 

Item — Maria  Josefa  received  at  her  first  marriage,  which  she  con- 
tracted with  her  deceased  husband,  Jose  Antonio  Lugo,  a  silver 
mounted  bridle  with  one  bit,  6  horses,  2  mares,  a  pair  of  spurs  and  a 
bridle  because  at  that  time  I  had  no  more — and  having  contracted  a 
second  marriage  with  citizen  Pedro  Feliz  I  gave  her  some  garments 
of  new  cloth  and  the  proper  clothes,  and  at  my  death  it  is  my  will  that 
she  be  given  ten  cows,  her  two  sons  having  received  :  Francisco  Lugo 
thirty  eight  horses,  a  horse  broken  to  saddle  with  its  pack  saddle  and 
saddle  bags,  and  a  mare — and  for  Juan  Lugo  a  lead  horse,  a  herd  of 
twenty-five  mares,  six  foals,  two  lead  mules. 

Item — I  declare  that  it  is  my  will  that  to  my  daughter  Catalina 
be  given  five  hundred  head  of  cattle  of  all  kinds,  the  iron  brand  and 
the  sale  of  a  herd  less  43  head  and  122  head  of  horses,  which  are 
those  that  survive. 

Item — It  is  mj'  will  that  she  l)e  given  a  two  room  house,  the  gran- 
ary, six  and  a  half  yoke  of  oxen. 

It  is  my  will  that  my  son  Julio  be  given  six  empty  pack  saddles, 
a  large  still,  two  pistols  and  two  shot  guns. 

Item — I  declare  that  from  my  income  from  the  warehouses  of 
the  Presidio  of  -San  Diego  there  be  taken  five  hundred  pesos  for  the 
repose  of  my  soul,  the  rest  to  be  divided  equally  between  Julio  and 
Catalina. 

Item — I  declare  that  it  is  my  will  that  the  vineyard  belong  to  my 
daughter  Catalina  and  the  fruit  trees  to  divide  in  equal  parts  between 
Julio  and  Catalina. 

Item — I  declare  that  it  is  my  will  to  leave  to  my  grandchildren,  to 
Rafael  and  Maria  .Antonia  Longina,  ten  cows  to  each  one  and  a  bar- 
rel of  aguardiente,  if  in  the  meantime  they  do  not  marry. 

Item — I  declare  that  to  my  son  Julio  be  given  a  barrel  of  aguar- 
diente, in   the  meantime  to  benefit  from  the  fruit  from  his  orchard. 


GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY  27 

Item — I  declare  that  it  is  my  will  to  leave  to  my  son  Julio  the 
small  crucifix. 

Item — I  declare  and  name  as  my  executors  my  children,  in  the 
first  place  Julio  and  in  the  second  Catalina,  and  it  is  my  will  that  they 
as  such  execute  hy  Testament  to  whom  and  to  each  one  jointly  I 
give  the  right  and  power  to  that  it  required  if  it  appears  to  them  hest 
to  dispose  of  and  sell  my  goods  at  public  auction  if  it  he  necessary. 

Item — I  declare  that  it  is  my  will  that  the  rancho  which  the  na- 
tion bestowed  upon  me,  called  San  Rafael,  belong  to  my  son  Julio 
and  Catalina.  so  that  they  may  enjoy  it  and  profit  from  it  with  the 
blessing  of  God. 

Being  witnesses  Sergeant  Jose  Antonio  Pico,  and  the  Chief  Com- 
mandante  Juan  Maria  Marron,  and  the  soldier  Jose  Pio  Marales,  and 
the  Notary  Public,  and  that  it  may  l^e  legal  I  sign  it  the  thirteenth 
day  of  August,  1828. 

JOSE  MARIA  VERDUGO. 

JOSE  ANTONIO  PICO. 

First  Witness. 

JUAN    MARIA    M.VRRON, 
JOSE  PIO  MORALES, 
ANTONIO  ASELVEDO, 
FRANCISCO    MORALES. 

Second  Witnesses. 
Rancho  OK  San  Rafael,  5th  of  Sept.,  1829. 

The  time  having  passed  which  has  from  the  date  of  this  my 
testament  up  to  the  present,  I  have  to  add  to  it  the  following  clauses 
which  I  dictate  in  the  presence  of  the  constitutional  Judge  of  the 
Town  of  Los  .\ngeles  and  of  the  witnesses  here  present,  citizens  Ti- 
burcio  Tapia  and  Cornelio  Lopez  : 

Item — I  declare  that  it  is  my  will  that  to  my  daughter  Catalina  be 
given  five  hundred  head  of  cattle,  paying  first  for  the  repose  of  my 
soul  as  I  have  ordered  and  the  rest  which  my  Testament  recites.  And 
furthermore  I  order  that  there  be  given  to  my  daughter  Maria  Vgna- 
cia  ten  head  of  cattle  and  that  the  rest  of  said  herd  be  divided  equally 
between  my  children  Julio  and  Catalina. 

Item — I  declare  it  is  my  will  that  as  soon  as  all  the  debts  are  col- 
lected which  are  in  my  favor  in  this  testament,  that  my  two  desig- 
nated children,  Julio  and  Catalina,  take  from  them  each  one  his  half. 

Item — I  declare  that  the  citizen  Jose  Maria  Aguilar  has  fifteen 
jiesos  to  his  credit  with  me,  nine  in  reales.  and  si.x  in  two  bushels  of 
beans,  the  which  are  to  be  deducted  from  the  74  pesos  which  is  owed 
me  according  to  my  testament. 

Item — I  declare  that  in  the  same  wa\-  citizen  Teodosio  Flores 
has  to  his  credit  fifty  pesos  of  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
pesos  which  appears  in  my  testament,  and  also  he  satisfied  the  lead 
mule  which  was  set  forth  as  owing. 

Item — Finally,  I  declare  these  last  clauses  to  be  added  to  my 
Testament,  made  the  13th  of  August,  1828,  the  which  I  declare  as 
valid  for  all  time,  and  recommend  to  my  executors  to  comply  with 
that  which  is  set  forth  in  it,  and  implore  at  the  same  time  the  ac- 


28  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

credited  authorities  here  present  (united  with  the  designated  wit- 
nesses and  with  citizens  Jose  Antonio  Carrillo.  whom  I  have  named  so 
that  he  may  take  the  place  of  secretary  or  notary)  with  whom  au- 
thorization, and  signatures  this  constitutes  my  last  will  in  the 
customar_v  terms. 

]3ecause  of  the  physical  incapacity  of  my  respected  father.  Julio 
Verdugo. 

Guillermo  Cota,  Constitutional  Judge  of  the  Town  of  Los  An- 
geles, Upper  California,  Certify  that  citizen  Jose  Maria  Verdugo, 
owner  of  the  Rancho  of  San  Rafael,  finding  himself  seriously  ill  and 
in  his  right  mind,  after  having  received  the  Sacraments  of  the  extreme 
unction  and  penitence  dictated  of  his  own  will  the  five  clauses  which 
precede  and  are  added  to  his  testament  which  he  made  the  13th  of 
August,  1828.  having  been  present  with  me  and  the  witnesses,  here 
present,  citizens  Tiburcio  Tapia  and  Cornelio  Lopez,  and  as  notary 
in  the  said  act  citizen  Jose  Antonio  Carrillo,  for  the  aforesaid  Jose 
Maria  \"erdugo.  and  in  order  that  the  said  clauses  shall  function  and 
have  the  proper  authority,  there  sign  it  with  me,  the  three  said 
citizens,  in  the  Rancho  of  San  Rafael  owned  by  him.  in  the  joint 
presence  of  lulio,  Maria  Ygnacia  and  Catalina,  his  children,  the  fifth 
of  September,  1829. 

GUILLERMO  COTA. 
Present,  Tiburcio  Tapia, 
Present,  Cornelio  Lopez. 
As  Notary  in  the  act,  Jose  Antonio  Carrillo. 


En  el  Pueblo  de  Nuestra  Senora  de  Los  .Angeles  (In  the  town  of 
our  Lady  of  the  Angels)  the  12th  of  January  18.^1 — the  constitutional 
Judge  of  said  town,  citizen  Vicente  Sanchez — In  virtue  of  citizen  Jose 
Maria  Verdugo  of  the  Rancho  of  San  Rafael  having  presented  him- 
self to  me  by  means  of  his  son  Julio  Verdugo,  so  that  there  might 
be  deducted  from  his  written  testament  the  sums  of  fifty-four  pesos 
which  citizen  Teodosio  Flores  has  paid  him,  and  fifteen  pesos  which 
citizen  Domingo  Romero  paid  from  the  sums  which  are  set  forth  as 
owing  in  the  said  testament  according  to  the  resjiective  clauses  and 
so  that  the  said  reduction  shall  be  valid  for  all  time  and  in  all  cir- 
cumstances I  attest  the  present  at  the  request  of  the  said  Verdugo 
as  has  been  said,  his  son  Julio  signing  it  with  me  because  of  his  physi- 
cal inability.  beft)re  the  witnesses  here  present,  Jose  Paloniares  and 
Jose  Antonio  Carrillo. 


Present,  Jose  Palomarez, 
Present,  Jose  Antonio  Carrillo. 


VINCENTE   SANCHEZ, 
JULIO  VERDUGO. 


In  the  Town  of  our  Lady  of  the  Angels,  the  fourth  of  the  month 
of  July,  1831 — The  Constitutional  Judge  of  said  town.  I  order  that  a 
copy  of  this  document  be  made  and  that  it  remains  in  the  archives  of 
this  Tribunal  whose  agency  was  used;  and  so  that  it  may  be  legal  for 
business  the  present  is  signed  and  returned  to  the  interested  executor 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  29 

to  the  original  of  which  the  witnesses  attest  who  sign  behnv.  The 
present  document  remains  in  this  tribunal  and  the  original  of  it  is 
handed  over  to  the  interested  party. 

JOSE  PALOMARES  SRIO. 

I  agree  with  the  original  testament  which  is  found  in  the  pos- 
session of  Julio  Berdugo.  to  whom  it  has  been  given. 

This  Testament  is  faithfully  copied  and  corrected  on  these  six 
sheets  of  common  paper  becau.se  of  absolute  lack  of  that  stamped  with 
the  seal,  and  I  authorize  and  sign  it  in  the  City  of  Los  Angeles  the 
thirteenth  day  of  April  eighteen  hundred  thirty  six,  with  witnesses 
present  because  of  lack  of  a  Notary  Public. 
Challenged — Juan  Maria  Morron — not  legal. 

MANUEL  REQUENA. 
Present,  Narciso  Botello, 
Present,  Francisco  F.  Alvarado. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  PERIOD  OF  JULIO  VERDUGO  AND  THE 
MEXICAN  WAR 

LAND  TRANSFERS  AND  BUSINESS  TRANSACTIONS  GENERALLY, 
INFORMAL  IN  THEIR  NATURE.  ONE  REVOLUTION  CLOSELY  FOL- 
LOWS ANOTHER.  PIO  PICO  APPEARS,  AS  ALSO  GOVERNOR  FIGUE- 
ROA,  A  GOVERNOR  OF  ABILITY.  LONG  CONTEST  BEGINS  BETWEEN 
MONTEREY  AND  LOS  ANGELES  FOR  THE  CAPITAL.  THE  STARS 
AND  STRIPES  AT  MONTEREY.  THE  BATTLE  OF  CAHUENGA.  THE 
UNITED  STATES  TAKES  POSSESSION  OF  CALIFORNIA;  LOS 
ANGELES  REBELLIOUS.  THE  BATTLES  OF  SAN  PASQUAL  AND  OF 
DOMINGUEZ  RANCH.    FREMONT  AND  THE  PEACE  TREATY. 

With  the  passing  of  their  father,  Julio  and  Catahna  Verdugo 
came  into  possession  of  a  principality,  large  enough  to  have  been 
called  a  "Kingdom"  in  eastern  countries  in  times  not  long  gone  by. 
They  did  not  keep  possession  undisputed,  however.  The  will  was  at- 
tacked by  the  married  daughters,  Josefa  and  Ignacia.  but  was  sus- 
tained by  the  courts.  Julio  gave  testimony  later  at  a  foreclosure  trial 
that  these  two  daughters  had  received  their  portion  during  their 
father's  life.  Ygnacia  had  become  the  wife  of  Juan  Feliz  and  it  was 
1836  when  the  contest  brought  by  her  and  her  husband  was  decided 
against  her.  The  will  of  Jose  Maria  was  not  recorded  until  April 
13,  1836.  Conditions  at  that  time  in  California  were  much  as  they 
had  been  for  a  decade  or  more.  Written  documents  in  business 
transactions  were  just  coming  into  use.  but  the  large  majority  of  the 
people  could  not  read  nor  write,  their  signatures  being  given  by 
mark  in  the  presence  of  witnesses  and  no  doubt  a  great  many  im- 
portant transactions  were  consummated  without  the  parties  inter- 
ested being  aware  of  what  they  were  doing.  The  country  was  still 
given  over  to  one  revolution  after  another,  but  they  were  singularly 
free  from  casualties.  A  disgruntled  factionist  would  proceed  to 
"raise  an  army"  consisting  of  a  hundred  men  or  so  and  make  a 
demonstration  which  would  compel  the  governing  authority  to  take 
notice  of  him.  The  armed  forces  would  march  out  to  meet  each  other 
with  all  the  serious  appearances  of  real  war,  but  as  soon  as  they  got 
close  enough  to  really  do  each  other  any  damage,  a  commission  would 
be  appointed  to  hold  a  peace  conference,  usually  resulting  in  the 
settlement  of  differences  for  the  time  being. 

In  1830,  Manuel  \'ictorio  had  been  appointed  governor  and  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  pretty  bad  one,  antagonizing  the  best  citizens, 
some  of  whom  he  put  in  jail  without  cause.  Among  those  so  im- 
prisoned was  one  Jose  Maria  Avila  who  had  a  large  number  of 
friends  and  an  imperious  disposition.  Some  of  his  friends  organized 
a  revolt,  among  them  being  Pio  Pico.  Juan  Bandini  and  other  citizens 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  :J1 

of  that  class  wlin  induced  the  cununaiidante  at  San  Diego  to  join 
them  with  fifty  soldiers  who  marched  to  Los  Angeles  and  joined  the 
insurgents.  They  released  Avila  and  recruited  an  army  of  over  200 
men.  Gov.  Victoria  was  in  the  north  and  started  south  to  meet  the 
rebels.  The  forces  met  at  Cahuenga  and  probably  would  have  settled 
matters  in  the  usual  harmless  manner  had  it  not  been  for  the  revenge- 
ful feeling  of  Avila  towards  X'ictorio  personally.  He  sought  out  the 
governor  and  attacked  him,  wounding  him  with  a  pistol  shot.  One 
of  the  governor's  supporters  then  shot  Avila  and  killed  him.  This 
tragic  affair  brought  the  revolution  to  a  close  and  the  revolutionists 
dispersed  to  their  various  homes.  The  governor  was  taken  to  San 
Gabriel  where  he  was  treated  surgically  by  the  useful  Joseph  Chap- 
man, who  seems  to  have  practiced  surgery  as  well  as  the  art  of  the 
carpenter,  and  presently  recovered.  Thinking,  however,  that  he  was 
going  to  die.  \'ictorio  abdicated  aiul  turned  the  government  over  to 
Echendia  who  had  formerly  been  governor.  V'ictorio  was  then 
shipped  out  of  the  country,  Los  Angeles  lending  the  sum  of  $125.00 
for  that  laudable  purpose. 

On  January  10,  1832,  a  legislative  assembly  was  called  to  meet  in 
Los  Angeles.  This  body  resolved  to  support  Echendia  for  governor, 
but  he  was  absent  from  the  city  and  when  communicated  with  did 
not  seem  desirous  of  the  honor.  Pio  Pico  who  then  resided  at  San 
Diego,  had  a  number  of  friends  in  the  assembly  and  when  they  were 
unable  to  get  a  satisfactory  answer  from  Echendia,  they  elected  Pico 
governor.  As  soon  as  Echendia  heard  of  the  selection  of  another  for 
the  position  he  developed  a  desire  to  possess  the  office  and  when  an- 
other "revolution"  threatened  the  peace  of  the  community,  Pico  re- 
signed after  having  been  governor  three  weeks.  This  was  the  first  ap- 
pearance in  the  lime  light  of  Pio  Pico,  who  in  the  next  few  years  was 
a  conspicuous  figure  in  southern  California  political  affairs  and  who 
at  all  times  appears  to  have  been  a  lover  of  peace  although  forced 
into  positions  at  times  where  it  might  appear  otherwise.  He  was 
more  or  less  of  a  local  character,  being  at  one  time  a  land  holder  in 
the  San  Rafael  ranch  and  a  familiar  figure  on  the  streets  of  Los  An- 
geles until  he  died  some  time  in  the  eighties.  Meanwhile  at  Monte- 
rey, Zamorrano  was  acting  governor  of  the  state  without  the  acquies- 
cence of  the  Angelenos  who  had  for  some  time  been  more  or  less  re- 
bellious and  prone  to  "go  it  alone."  Both  governors  now  began  to 
raise  armies,  but  the  spirit  of  compromise  gained  the  ascendency  and 
it  was  finall)'  decided  to  divide  the  state  between  the  contending  as- 
pirants, Zamorrano  taking  all  north  of  San  Fernando  and  Echendia 
what  was  left  south  of  that  jilace ;  I^os  .'\ngeles  did  not  give  much  al- 
legiance to  either  of  the  rival  rulers,  still  playing  true  to  form. 

In  1833,  Figueroa  was  appointed  governor  by  the  Mexican  gov- 
ernment, and  upon  his  arrival  the  other  governors  disbanded  their 
armies  and  seem  to  have  retired  to  private  and  ])eaceful  life.  Fig- 
ueroa appears  to  have  been  a  governor  of  ability.  During  his  term 
the  missions  were  finally  secularized,  the  decree  abolishing  them 
having  passed  in  August,  1833.  The  missions  at  that  time  owned 
twenty-four  ranches.     The  Mission  San  Gabriel  alone  extended  from 


32  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

the  San  Bernardino  mountains  to  the  sea  embracing  a  million  and  a 
half  acres.  Guinn  is  our  authority  for  stating  that  it  took  a  thousand 
acres  of  fertile  land  to  support  one  Indian  under  mission  management, 
this  statement  being  based  upon  the  fact  that  there  never  was  at  the 
San  Gabriel  more  than  1,701  Indians.  The  missions  were  monopoliz- 
ing the  land,  and  the  people  were  beginning  to  demand  that  the  mo- 
nopoly cease,  as  it  was  not  working  for  the  development  of  the  coun- 
try. The  decree  had  been  to  a  great  extent  anticipated  by  killing  off 
the  cattle  at  the  missions  by  wholesale  and  otherwise  disposing  of 
such  property  as  could  be  got  rid  of  to  any  advantage.  The  same 
authority  states  that  the  deaths  among  the  Indians  under  the  mis- 
sions always  outnumbered  the  births,  the  usual  result  of  attempting 
to  force  the  aborigines  of  any  country  to  accept  the  conditions  of 
civilization,  which  alwajs  includes  the  living  witliin  houses. 

Within  a  decade  after  the  Indians  were  released  from  mission 
control  it  was  officially  stated  that  they  were  "utterly  depraved," 
hence  the  conditions  locally  with  this  large  numl)er  of  natives  roam- 
ing over  the  country,  can  be  better  imagined  than  described.  Many 
of  them  became  dependent  upon  the  proprietors  of  the  ranchos, 
and  drifted  into  a  state  of  virtual  bondage  more  or  less  voluntary. 
The  Verdugo  family  had  its  share  of  these  "retainers"  and  even  within 
the  last  score  of  years  two  or  three  of  them  survived  and  were  rather 
familiar  figures  as  they  traveled  afoot  along  the  Verdugo  Road. 

A  decree  was  issued  by  the  Mexican  congress.  May  23,  1835,  by 
which  it  was  attempted  to  make  Los  Angeles  the  state  capital  and  for 
the  following  ten  years  there  was  a  contest  going  on  nearly  all  the 
time  between  the  north  and  south,  or  between  Monterey  and  Los 
Angeles,  as  the  former  did  not  during  that  time  acknowledge  the 
right  of  the  southern  city  to  assume  the  authority  that  the  Mexican 
government  had  conferred  upon  her.  It  was  during  the  incumbency 
of  Governor  Juan  Bautista  Alvarado  at  Monterey,  that  Commodore 
Ap  Catesby  Jones,  commanding  a  United  States  fleet  of  four  war 
vessels,  captured  Monterey  and  hoisted  the  Stars  and  Stripes  over 
the  capital  there,  holding  possession  from  October  9  to  October 
21,  1842,  when,  finding  that  the  information  that  had  led  him  to 
take  action  in  taking  possession  of  the  country  for  the  United 
States,  had  no  official  foundation,  he  backed  down  as  gracefully  as 
possible,  and  the  flag  of  Mexico  was  again  hoisted.  Commodore  Jones 
with  his  vessels  had  been  in  the  harbor  of  Callao,  Peru,  when 
hearing  that  a  British  fleet  lying  in  the  harbor  at  the  same  time  was 
about  to  sail,  he  jumped  at  the  conclusion  that  they  were  about  to 
capture  California,  and  he  determined  to  forestall  them.  Conditions 
were  such  at  the  time  that  his  suspicions  were  not  as  illogical  as 
might  appear  at  this  distance  of  time.  Commodore  Jones  went  to 
Los  Angeles  to  meet  the  governor  and  fix  matters  up,  which  he  ap- 
pears to  have  done  very  successfully  as  he  is  said  to  have  left  there 
"with   flying  colors." 

In  December,  1843,  Micheltorena  became  governor  at  Los  An- 
geles, and  during  the  most  of  his  term  was  contending  with  .\lvarado 
at  Monterey  for  the  honor  of  being  the  chief  executive  of  the  state. 


(i  LEND  ALE  AM)  XICIXITV  33 

The  Battle  of  Cahuengfa  took  place  within  sight  of  the  present 
city  of  Glendale.  and  doubtless  was  witnessed  from  "Los  Verdupos," 
as  it  was  from  all  the  hills  near  Los  Angeles,  causing  much  excite- 
ment in  that  city.  Alvarado  and  Castro  in  the  north  had  rebelled 
against  the  government  of  Micheltorena  in  Los  Angeles.  While 
the  governor  was  in  the  north,  the  rebels  slipped  around  his  army 
and  came  south,  capturing  Los  Angeles.  The  army  that  took  the 
capital  numbered  ninety  men  when  it  started  southward  but  accu- 
mulated strength  as  it  progressed  towards  the  capital,  being  joined 
by  the  Picos  and  other  natives  of  the  better  class,  as  Micheltorena 
and  his  army  were  everywhere  uni)opular.  The  pass  in  the  Cahuenga 
hills  seems  to  have  been  a  favorite  meeting  place  for  contending  mili- 
tary forces  at  that  time. 

On  the  20th  of  February,  1843,  the  armies  met  on  the  southern 
edge  of  the  San  Fernando  valley  about  15  miles  from  Los  Angeles. 
Each  army  numbered  about  400  men.  Micheltorena  had  3  pieces  of 
artillery  and  Castro  two.  They  opened  on  each  other  at  long  range 
and  seem  to  have  fought  the  battle  throughout  at  very  long  range. 
A  mustang  and  a  mule  were  killed.  There  were  a  number  of  Ameri- 
cans with  Castro,  who  were  lured  away  by  what  would  now  be  termed 
skilful  propaganda  on  the  part  of  some  of  their  countrymen  of  the 
opposite  party ;  this  weakened  the  army  from  the  north  considerably, 
but  does  not  seem  to  have  helped  Micheltorena  greatly  as  he  is  re- 
ported to  have  turned  back  through  the  pass  and  to  have  come 
around  to  the  Feliz  ranch  by  the  river.  A  few  more  shots  were  fired 
in  his  general  direction  and  then  he  surrendered.  After  this  battle 
Micheltorena  was  shipped  back  to  Mexico  and  Pio  Pico  became 
governor,  being  appointed   by   President   Herrera  in    1S45. 

In  June,  1846,  at  Sonoma,  the  Bear  Flag  republic  was  born,  last- 
ing for  forty-five  days.  Commodore  Sloat  raised  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  at  Monterey  on  Jul\-  7,  1846.  and  California  passed  into  the 
possession  of  the  United  States,  as  his  action,  unlike  that  of  Com- 
modore Jones,  had  the  sanction  of  the  government  at  Washington. 
Southern  California,  however,  did  not  acknowledge  the  new  flag  that 
floated  over  the  northern  city,  still  remaining  loyal  to  Mexico.  Gov. 
Pico  who  had  started  north  to  oppose  Castro  before  the  change  in 
flags  occurred,  now  joined  forces  with  the  latter  to  fight  the  "in- 
vaders." The  junction  of  their  forces  was  made  at  Santa  Margarita. 
Castro  had  been  military  commander  at  Monterey,  in  association 
with  Gov.  /Mvarado,  and  seems  not  to  have  harmonized  with  the 
more  pacific  Pico.  They  started  on  a  march  south  but  the  army  soon 
disintegrated  for  on  July  27,  1846,  Pico  issued  a  proclamation  call- 
ing upon  his  people  to  "abstain  from  all  acts  of  violence." 

Prof.  Guinn,  in  his  History  of  California,  takes  occasion  to  speak 
of  Pico  as  follows:  "Pio  Pico  deserved  better  treatment  from  the 
Americans  than  he  received.  He  was  robbed  of  his  landed  posses- 
sions by  unscrupulous  land  sharks  and  his  reputation  defamed  by 
irresponsible  historical  scribblers."  Castro  was  left  in  command  of 
the  "army"  which  he  claimed  consisted  of  only  one  hundred  men. 
Among  the  many  legends  that  have  l>een  woven  into  alleged  his- 


34  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

torical  sketches  of  the  San  Rafael  ranch,  there  is  one  to  the  effect 
that  the  peace  treaty  which  achieved  the  cessation  of  a  state  of  war 
in  Cahfornia  between  the  two  governments,  was  signed  at  the  home 
of  the  Verdugos.  This  story  misses  the  truth  by  a  few  miles  only, 
and  it  may  be  worth  while  to  briefly  relate  the  historical  facts,  as  the 
locality  in  which  Glendale  is  situated  did  furnish  the  stage  for  some 
of  the  last  acts  of  the  war. 

General  (then  Captain)  John  C.  Fremont,  arrived  in  Monterey 
in  January.  1846,  having  comjileted  his  march  overland  and  arrived 
in  the  San  Joaquin  valley  with  sixty-two  men.  Fremont's  mission 
was  a  peaceful  one  but  the  susjiicious  Castro  ordered  him  out  of  the 
country  and  the  Americans  after  a  brief  delay  began  their  march 
northward.  They  had  almost  reached  the  Oregon  line  when  on  May 
ninth  they  were  overtaken  by  a  messenger  bearing  government  des- 
patches for  Fremont,  who  upon  receiving  them  turned  about  and 
marched  southward,  reaching  Sacramento  and  encamjjing.  On  July 
seventh,  Commodore  Sloat  raised  the  Stars  and  Stripes  at  Monterey. 
Castro  at  that  time  was  at  San  Jose  and  upon  receiving  the  news  he 
called  his  men  together,  announced  that  he  was  off  for  Me.xico,  and 
told  them  they  could  go  to  their  homes,  which  permission  was 
promptly  followed  by  the  action  suggested. 

All  was  now  quiet  in  the  north,  but  the  south  was  not  )'et  sub- 
jected. Commodore  Stockton,  who  had  superseded  Sloat,  organized 
an  expedition  to  proceed  to  Southern  California  and  take  over  that 
])ortion  of  the  country.  Fremont's  forces,  which  had  been  recruited 
at  Monterey  to  120  men,  was  a  part  of  this  expedition,  and  was  sent 
south  by  steamer  to  San  Diego. 

Gov.  Pio  Pico  had  left  Los  Angeles,  in  June,  on  an  expedition 
against  the  rebellious  Castro  at  Monterey,  and  was  with  his  army  at 
San  Luis  Obispo  when  he  heard  the  news  of  the  capture  of  Monterey. 
As  previously  mentioned,  Castro  had  joined  Pico  and  they  attempted 
to  act  together  to  oppose  the  common  enemy,  without  success,  the 
old  jealousies  prevailing  as  usual.  Pico,  at  Santa  Barbara,  issued  a 
proclamation  calling  on  all  able  bodied  men  to  rally  to  the  defense 
of  their  country  against  the  invader  and  taking  occasion  to  allude  to 
the  invading  forces  in  very  uncomplimentary  terms.  They  did  not 
rally  to  any  great  extent,  however.  Pico  followed  up  this  proclama- 
tion on  July  twenty-seventh  (Guinn)  with  another  in  which  he  took 
i|uite  a  different  stand,  advising  the  peo])le  to  abstain  from  all  acts 
of  violence  toward  the  invaders.  Castro  had  not  gone  to  Mexico,  as 
he  had  announced  his  intention  of  doing,  but  was  now  at  Los 
Angeles,  where,  with  .\ndreas  Pico,  he  was  endeavoring  to  raise 
and  drill  an  army  of  defense.  This  "army"  consisted  of  aI)out  300 
men.  poorly  armed  and  equipped. 

Commodore  Stockton  sailed  for  San  Pedro,  where  he  arrived  on 
August  sixth,  with  360  sailors  and  marines;  these  he  began  to  drill 
in  military  maneuvers  in  preparation  for  a  march  to  Los  .\ngeles. 
Castro  sent  to  Stockton  the  usual  "commission"  asking  for  a  cessation 
of  hostilities,  which  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  be.gun,  but  Stock- 
ton refused  to  consider  any  proposition  and  sent  the  commissioners 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  35 

hack  empty  handed.  The  situation  was  now  entirely  hopeless  for 
the  Cal'fornians,  so  hoth  Pico  and  Castro  cleared  out,  the  former 
going  to  the  Santa  Margarita  ranch,  near  Capistrano,  where  he  was 
concealed  by  his  brother-in-law,  Dt>n  Jnhn  Forster,  while  Castro 
resumed  his  trip  to  Mexico  where  he  ultimately  arrived.  Stockton 
resumed  his  march  on  Los  Angeles  on  August  eleventh;  he  had  four 
jiieces  of  cannon  drawn  by  oxen,  and  a  good  brass  band.  Fremont 
who  had  gone  to  San  Diego  with  his  battalion  of  170  men.  was  now 
supplied  with  horses  and.  on  August  eighth,  started  north  to  jc)in 
Stockton,  having  an  army  of  120  men.  having  left  a  guard  of  50 
men  at  San  Diego.  It  took  Stockton  three  days  to  march  to  Los 
Angeles  from  San  Pedro  and  on  August  13.  1846,  having  joined  Fre- 
mont on  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  the  combined  forces  of  over  500 
men,  entered  the  city  without  opposition. 

On  .August  seventeenth,  Stockton  issued  a  prficlamation  as  "Coin- 
mander  in  chief  and  governor  of  the  territory  of  California"  inform- 
ing the  people  that  the  country  now  belonged  to  the  Lhiited  States. 
Four  days  after  the  capture  of  Los  Angeles,  the  Warren,  Captain 
Hull  commander,  anchored  at  San  Pedro.  She  brought  official  notice 
of  the  declaratinn  of  war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico. 
Then  for  the  first  time,  Stockton  learned  that  there  had  been  an 
official  declaration  of  war  between  the  two  countries.  United  States 
officers  had  waged  war  and  taken  possession  of  California  upon  the 
strength  of  a  rumor  that  hostilities  existed  between  the  two  countries. 
( Guinn.) 

This  looks  like  the  end  oi  trouble,  but  it  was  only  a  beginning. 
Stockton  left  Los  .-\ngeles  for  the  north  on  September  second,  leaving 
Captain  Gillespie  to  hold  the  town  with  fifty  men.  Fremont  also 
went  north.  Gillespie  tried  to  rule  by  martial  law,  but  his  ridiculously 
inadequate  force  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  maintain  his  authority 
over  a  conglomeration  of  trouble  makers  such  as  coinposed  a  large 
])ortion  of  the  population  of  Los  Angeles  at  that  time,  and  in  addition 
to  that  element  was  a  considerable  body  of  the  better  class  of  natives, 
who  were  inspired  by  a  naturally  resentful  feeling  against  the  in- 
vaders. On  September  twenty-second  a  body  of  Californians  at- 
tacked the  garrison  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  were  repulsed 
with  loss  of  three  men.  The  next  day  there  were  six  hundred  men  on 
horseback  in  an  attacking  party,  armed  witjh  shot  guns,  lances  and 
having  a  piece  of  artillery.  The  Americans  intrenched  on  Fort  Hill 
kept  the  Californians  at  a  distance  1))'  occasional  rifle  fire  and  shots 
now  and  then   from  a  rusty  cannon. 

In  this  connection  occurs  the  story  of  the  ride  of  John  Brown, 
locally  known  at  the  time  as  Juan  Flaco  or  Lean  John.  Colton  in 
his  "Three  Years  in  California,"  says:  "Brown  rode  the  whole  dis- 
tance (Los  Angeles  to  Monterey)  of  four  hundred  and  sixty  tniles  in 
fifty-two  hours,  during  which  time  he  did  not  sleep.  His  intelligence 
was  for  Comm(jdore  Stocktf)n.  and  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  was  not 
committed  to  paper,  except  a  few  words  rolled  in  a  cigarette  fastened 
in  his  hair.  But  the  commodore  had  sailed  for  San  Francisco  and  it 
u  as  necessary  he  should  go  one  hundred  and  f(.)rly  miles  further.    He 


36  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

was  quite  exhausted  and  allowed  to  sleep  three  li^urs.  Before  day  he 
was  up  and  off  on  his  journey."  He  had  left  Los  Angeles  on  Septem- 
ber twenty-fourth  at  8  P.  M..  and  on  the  mornini^  nf  the  twenty-ninth 
was,  according  to  Captain  Gillespie's  account  of  the  ride,  lying  in  the 
bushes  on  the  edge  of  San  Francisco  Bay.  waiting  for  an  early  morn- 
ing boat.  In  leaving  Los  .\ngeles  he  had  been  discovered  by  the  be- 
siegers, was  fired  on,  his  horse  killed.  Flaco  carried  his  spurs  and 
riata  to  Los  Virginese.  a  distance  of  27  miles  afoot,  where  he  secured 
another  mount.  This  noble  ride  availed  nothing  for  the  beleaguered 
Americans  however,  their  situation  becoming  more  desperate  daily. 
Finally  Flores,  commanding  the  Californians.  issued  an  ultimatum  de- 
manding surrender  within  twenty-four  hours,  and  on  September 
thirtieth,  the  Americans  capitulated,  being  allowed  to  march  out  of 
the  city  with  colors  flying  and  proceeded  to  San  Pedro  where  they  ar- 
rived in  due  time. 

Upon  receiving  Gillespie's  message,  by  messenger  Juan  Flaco. 
Gillespie  ordered  Captain  Mervine  to  go  to  San  Pedro  at  once.  Sev- 
eral days'  time  were  lost,  however,  and  it  was  October  first  when  Mer- 
vine and  his  men  sailed  out  of  San  Francisco  bay,  arriving  at  San 
Pedro  on  October  seventh.  The  combined  forces  of  the  Americans 
began  the  march  on  Los  Angeles  on  C^ctober  eighth,  with  about  300 
men.  The  Californians  harassed  the  Americans  all  along  their  route, 
being  in  possession  of  a  cannon  which  they  handled  very  efficiently. 
After  proceeding  inland  several  miles,  and  having  a  number  of  men 
wounded,  the  Americans  finally  retreated  back  to  their  vessels.  This 
affair  was  known  as  the  Battle  of  Dominguez  Ranch.  The  .\merican 
losses  were  four  men  killed  and  five  or  six  wounded.  The  dead  were 
buried  on  an  island  in  the  harbor,  named  at  that  time  "Dead  Man's 
Island."  The  Californians  during  this  battle  were  commanded  by 
Jose  Maria  Flores,  who  after  the  fight  returned  to  Los  .\ngeles.  called 
the  departmental  assembly  together  and  was  elected  governor  in  the 
absence  of  Pico.     He  held  office  until  January  S,  1847. 

The  defeat  of  Mervine  showed  the  .Americans  that  conditions  in 
the  south  required  more  strenuous  efforts  than  had  been  put  forth 
heretofore  to  pacify  the  natives,  and  Fremont,  under  orders  from 
Commodore  Stockton  proceeded  to  recruit  a  sufficient  number  of  men 
to  form  a  regiment.  His  headquarters  were  at  Monterey  and  he  had 
now  attained  the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel.  C"astro  had  been  made 
commandante  of  the  Mexican  forces  with  headcpiarters  at  San  Luis 
Obispo.  On  October  sixteenth,  a  body  of  scouts  on  their  way  to 
Monterey,  to  join  Fremont,  encountered  a  part  of  Castro  forces  at 
Hncinalitos  and  a  fight  occurred  in  which  there  were  a  dozen  men  or 
so  killed  on  each  side.  On  January  second  following  there  was  a  fight 
at  Santa  Clara  without  any  fatalities.  Stockton  sailed  for  San  Pedro 
where  he  arrived  on  October  23,  1846.  having  in  ail  a  force  of  about 
800  men.  The  fact  was  afterwards  disclosed  that  the  Mexican  forces 
opposing  him  did  not  number  more  than  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  at 
most.  The  Californians  maneuvered  their  horsemen  so  skilfully, 
that  the  careful  Stockton  seems  to  have  imagined  himself  opposed  by 
an  invincible  army,  and  on  October  thirty-first  he  loaded  his  forces 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  37 

on  board  the  Congress  and  sailed  for  San  Dicf^o,  evidenti)'  plannin.^' 
to  march  from  that  place  to  Los  Angeles  some  other  day. 

Meantime  Fremont  had  been  recruiting  in  the  north  until  he  had 
an  army  of  about  450  men.  witii  wliich  force  he  began  his  march 
southward  on  November  twenty-ninth  to  co-operate  with  Stockton. 
General  Kearney,  marching  to  San  Diego  from  the  cast  with  ai)Out 
80  men.  had  been  attacked  at  San  Pasqual  by  a  force  of  the  Califor- 
nians.  under  .'\ndreas  Pico,  and  in  the  battle  that  ensued  lost  three  of- 
ficers and  15  dragoons  killed,  with  seventeen  dragoons  wounded;  his 
force  would  probably  have  been  annihilated  had  not  reinforcements 
reached  him  from  San  Diego,  at  which  place  Kearney  and  his  forces 
arrived,  without  anj'  further  fighting,  but  after  enduring  great  hard- 
ships. He  had  been  sent  from  l^ort  Leavenworth  to  take  ])ossession 
of  New  Mexico,  which  was  accomplished  without  a  battle.  The  affair 
at  San  Pasqual  was  for  the  Americans  the  most  serious  battle  that  oc- 
curred during  the  war. 

On  December  twenty-ninth.  Stockton  began  the  march  to  Los 
Angeles  with  Kearney  second  in  command,  the  force  numbering  about 
500  men.  At  San  Luis  Rey  a  messenger  came  into  camp  from  Flores 
asking  for  the  customary  conference.  Stockton  refused  to  accede  to 
the  proposition  and  demanded  that  Flores  and  his  army  surrender, 
which  proposal  was  also  rejected.  On  January  eighth,  the  .Xmericans 
having  reached  the  crossing  of  the  San  Gabriel  river,  south  of  Los 
Angeles,  encountered  the  enemy  in  considerable  force.  A  fight  oc- 
curred there  and  another  on  the  following  day  at  "the  ^^csa."  In  these 
two  battles  the  Californians  lost  three  men  killed  and  had  several 
wounded,  the  .'\mericans  losing  about  an  e<|ual  ntunbcr.  The  Cali- 
fornians were  short  of  good  powder  to  which  fact  tlieir  opponents 
owe  the  good  fortune  of  escaping  with  so  small  a  loss.  On  January 
tenth  while  the  .Americans  were  encamped  along  the  river  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  town,  a  delegation  came  into  camp  with  a  proposition  to 
surrender  which  was  accepted,  and  the  next  day  Stockton's  forces 
entered  Los  Angeles. 

Fremont  Cfiming  down  from  the  north  reached  a  point  a  few 
miles  north  of  San  b'ernando  on  January  11.  1S47.  Here  he  received 
news  of  the  capture  of  Los  .^ngeles,  and  camped  on  the  above  named 
date  at  the  San  Fernando  mission.  That  night  a  friemlly  Californian, 
Jesus  Pico  set  out  from  the  mission  to  find  the  army  of  the  Califor- 
nians. and  here  we  get  our  local  coloring;  he  found  them  "encamped  al 
V^erdugas."  (Guinn.)  The  probability  is  that  this  cncanipnient  was  at 
the  adobe  residence  in  the  Canyon,  as  it  seems  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  that  location  would  I)e  preferred  for  a  military  encani])ment 
rather  than  at  the  other  adobe  house,  situated  on  the  mesa,  on  what  is 
now  Verdugo  Road,  which  Julio  had  built  in  1835. 

Although  Julio,  as  far  as  our  knowledge  goes,  had  no  military 
record,  not  being  mentioned  in  the  accounts  of  the  various  revolutions 
that  periodically  occurred,  he,  no  doubt,  was  in  (]uite  natural  sym- 
pathy with  his  countrymen  in  their  opposition  to  the  invading  Amer- 
icans. Pico  was  detained  at  the  Verdugos  while  the  leaders  were 
summoned  for  a  council,  word  being  sent  to  them  by  horsemen  to  San 


38  GLENDALP]  AND  VICINITY 

Pasqual  Raiicho  (Pasadena)  and  otlier  points  near  at  hand.  General 
F"lores.  governf)r  and  cotnmandante.  seems  to  have  been  able  to  read 
handwritinsj  on  a  wall  whatever  he  may  have  lacked  in  educational 
adornments,  and  upon  receivings  Pico's  communication,  and  listening 
to  him  when  he  advised  surrender,  heard  a  sudden  call  to  duty  else- 
where and  left  the  same  night  lor  Mexico,  where  he  held  a  position  in 
the  regular  army.  He  was  accompanied  by  several  other  officers  and 
thirty  privates.  Before  leaving  he  conferred  the  command  of  the 
army  upon  General  Andreas  Pico,  who  immediately  appointed  two 
commissioners,  Francisco  Rico  and  Francisco  de  la  Guerra,  to  return 
with  Jesus  Pico  to  Fremont's  camp  and  confer  as  to  a  treaty  of  peace. 
Fremont  appointed  similar  commissioners.  Major  P.  B.  Redding, 
Major  Wm.  H.  Russell  and  Capt.  Louis  McLane.  On  the  return  of 
his  commissioners  to  camp,  Gen.  Pico  appointed  two  others,  Jose 
Antonio  Carrillo,  and  Augustin  Olvera.  and  moved  his  army  over  to 
Cahuenga,  to  which  point  Fremont  had  also  moved,  and  there  in  a 
deserted  ranch  house  on  January  13.  1847.  the  treaty  of  peace  was 
signed. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  (a  small 
town  near  the  City  of  Mexico),  the  rights  of  American  citizenship 
were  accorded  to  all  Californians  who  were  willing,  and  had  the  usual 
qualifications,  to  receive  them.  The  majority  of  the  better  class  of 
natives  swore  allegiance  to  the  Stars  and  Stri])es.  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  they  gained  any  material  benefit  from  the  change  in  flags. 
They  were  given  a  stable  government  in  exchange  for  one  of  frequent 
changes,  each  one  based  upon  the  last  "revolution"  and  in  that  re- 
spect the  change  should  have  been  a  boon  of  some  value.  But  the  old 
regime  had  its  merits  and  if  the  landed  proprietors  regretted  its  ])ass- 
ing  and  failed  to  hail  the  new  conditions  with  enthusiasm,  who  shall 
say  them  nay  ? 

The  revolutions  were  usually  bloodless  and  served  to  break 
the  monotony  of  a  life  that  needed  something  in  the  way  of  excite- 
ment to  flavor  it.  The  people  were  generous  to  a  fault,  and  practiced 
the  virtue  of  hospitality  with  a  free  handed  grace  that  can  never  exist 
outside  of  a  country  whose  people  are  more  or  less  primitive.  There 
were  occasional  crimes  of  violence  and  very  few  of  a  nature  that  can 
be  described  as  sordid  or  shameful.  'i"he  great  misfortune  of  the 
people  in  passing  under  the  control  of  the  United  States,  was  their 
ignorance  of  the  language  and  of  the  laws.  They  were  entirely  at  the 
mercy  of  the  lawyers  and  this  is  not  meant  for  a  reflection  upon  the 
members  of  that  profession,  but  as  a  mere  statement  of  facts. 

The  owners  of  land  had  to  take  ste])s  to  have  their  titles  con- 
firmed by  the  new  government  and  instances  occurred  in  which  they 
lost  title  to  property  which  they  had  occupied  for  years  without  chal- 
lenge from  any  one.  It  was  necessary  for  them  to  obtain  legal  advice 
ancl  to  execute  legal  papers,  the  meaning  of  which  was  unknown  to 
them  except  through  interpreters  who.  admitting  their  honesty,  were 
not  always  themselves  capable  of  rightly  explaining  the  intricacies  of 
the  law.  And  when  it  came  to  paying  the  lawyers,  what  more  natural 
than   that  it  should  be  done  by  executing  a  deed  to  a  piece  of  land 


GLENDALE  AND  \1CIMTY  39 

when  the  owner  had  more  than  he  knew  what  to  do  with?  I'.ut  tlie 
loan  sharks  were  the  most  terrible  enemy  of  the  California  land 
owner.    It  was  easy  to  borrow  money  and  so  terribly  hard  to  pay. 

For  years  the  prevailing  rate  of  interest  was  three  per  cent  a 
month,  compounded  of  course  upon  non-paj-ment.  The  records  are 
full  of  the  sad  story  which  shows  how  one  landed  proprietor  after 
another  saw  his  broad  acres  slip  away  from  him.  Those  who 
fought  foreclosure  through  the  courts  fared  the  wt)rst,  fur  the  case 
usually  went  against  them  and  that  terrible  three  per  cent  was  run- 
ning all  the  time.  Looking  over  the  old  records  one  finds  many  an 
interesting  story  bearing  on  this  subject.  Here  is  the  record  of  one 
mortgage,  or  rather  the  opening  chapter,  for  the  sequel  is  unknown. 
It  is  given  here  to  afford  a  glimpse  of  transactions  in  this  line  seventy 
years  ago.  being  one  of  many. 

In  Alarch.  1849,  Pedro  Dominquez  borrows  of  John  Temple  350 
ounces  of  gold  dust  of  good  quality  and  Troy  weight  for  the  sum  of 
$3,500  in  silver.  The  document  securing  the  loans  set  forth  that  the 
borrower  intends  to  use  the  greater  part  of  it  to  ])ay  his  debts,  after 
which  he  will  owe  no  one.  To  secure  this  he  states  his  desire  to  .give 
a  most  firm  writing,  desires  to  pay  the  330  ounces  and  further  de- 
sires to  be  compelled  to  do  so.  For  this  purpose  he  mortgages  the 
Rancho  San  Pedro;  said  Temple  to  lay  claim  to  the  same  so  that 
when  term  expires,  if  claim  is  not  paid,  he  may  take  action.  He 
further  states  his  intention  of  going  to  the  "Bonanza  Gold  Mines." 
.'\s  the  Dominguez  family  still  held  the  Rancho  San  Pedro  after  this 
transaction,  the  inference  is  that  I'cdro  was  more  lucky  than  the  av- 
erage borrower. 


CHAPTER  V 

JULIO  VERDUGO,  HIS  FAMILY  AND  ACTIVITIES 

SOME  TRANSACTIONS  IN  REALTY.  DIVISION  OF  THE  RANCH 
BETWEEN  JULIO  AND  CATALINA.  VARIOUS  CONVEYANCES.  SCAR- 
CITY OF  MONEY  AND  EXORBITANT  RATES  OF  INTEREST.  A  LOAN 
AT  THREE  PER  CENT  A  MONTH  AND  HOW  IT  GREW.  TESTIMONY 
GIVEN  IN  FORECLOSURE  TRIAL.  JULIO,  A  PICTURESQUE  FIGURE. 
PASSES  AWAY. 

Julio,  coming  into  possession  of  the  ranch  (with  his  sister)  about 
1832,  was  at  that  time  about  45  years  old.  He  had  married  Maria 
Jesus  Romero  and  probably  the  greater  number  of  their  numerous 
offspring  had  already  appeared  upon  the  scene  of  action.  The  num- 
ber of  their  children,  who  reached  maturity,  appears  to  have  been 
eleven,  nine  sons  and  two  daughters.  The  sons  are  frequently  al- 
luded to  in  the  testimony  of  their  neighbors,  in  association  with  their 
father  in  carrying  on  their,  for  that  time,  rather  extensive  farming 
operations.  They  not  only  raised  crops  of  barley,  wheat,  corn,  beans 
and  hay  but  had  large  herds  of  cattle  and  horses.  It  is  quite  proljable, 
that  in  1835,  when  Dana  visited  San  Pedro  in  the  good  ship  ".\lert" 
taking  on  hides  and  tallow,  as  related  in  "Two  Years  Before  the 
Mast,"  he  helped  to  load  some  of  the  products  of  the  San  Rafael 
ranch.  And  Don  Julio  was  a  builder  also.  He  built  a  house  "on  the 
hill  at  the  Garbanzos"  in  1833  and  1834.  He  built  cattle  pens  also  and 
put  in  a  garden  and  vineyard,  and  planted  corn  and  wheat.  This 
house,  on  the  hill  top,  lietween  Garvanza  and  Eagle  Rock,  was  quite 
a  conspicuous  object  until  a  few  years  ago  when  it  was  obliterated 
by  the  overwhelming  march  of  improvement. 

We  have  his  testimony  also  as  to  other  building:  "On  the  hill,  at 
that  portion  called  the  Cienega,  I  also  built  a  house  and  pens  and  kei)t 
a  dairy  there.  This  was  in  1835.  I  also  had  improvements  on  the 
southern  part  at  the  place  called  the  Talaga.  Five  years  ago  (this 
was  in  1865),  my  wife  built  a  house  at  the  Porto-suelo,  the  place 
where  we  now  live."  The  house  in  the  "Cienega"  appears  to  be  the 
old  adobe  standing  in  Verdugo  Canyon  and  while  speaking  of  th.it 
house,  he  continues:  "The  house  built  at  the  small  hill  near  the  Cien- 
ega is  still  there  and  rented  to  Mr.  Lanfranco.  It  is  (jf  adobe.  We 
lived  at  the  .house  with  the  family  over  four  years.  I  was  living  in 
the  bottom  when  the  flood  came  and  we  were  forced  out.  The  gar- 
dens have  been  there  eight  or  nine  years."  He  als.>  speaks  of  having 
lived  at  the  "Loma." 

It  is  possible  that  this  is  an  error,  and  thai  the  word  should  be 
"Toma"  the  place  on  the  river  where  the  water  was  diverted.  The 
house  at  Portosuelo.  built  by  the  wife  of  Julio,  was  on  the  Verdugn 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  41 

Road,  on  the  east  side,  near  the  residence  now  occupied  and  lielons;ing 
to  Mrs.  Rohde,  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  city  of  Glendale.  This 
was  the  residence  of  Julio  and  his  family  from  the  time  it  was  built,  in 
1860,  until  his  death  in  1S76.  It  was  occupied  after  the  father's  death 
by  one  of  his  sons.  Jose  Maria,  until  about  1S''0.  when  the  faniii\' 
moved  to  .San  Gabriel  where  Jose  was  accidentall\-  killed  on  the  rail- 
road. Others  of  the  family  lived  in  the  house  lunil  it  was  sold  to  Mr. 
Rohde  about  1910.  Only  a  frajjment  of  it  remains.  This  was  the 
"homestead"  of  200  acres  awarded  to  Julio  in  1869.  when  the  rest  of 
the  ranch  was  sold  under  foreclosure  of  nn>rt£]:ag:e,  as  will  presently  be 
related.  The  homestead  was  on  both  sides  of  X'crducfo  Road,  there 
being  98  acres  on  the  west  side  and  202  acres  on  the  cast,  the  latter 
property  being  principally  hill-iand. 

The  level  land  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  was  left  in  small  lots 
to  the  children,  there  being  between  seven  and  eight  acres  in  each  al- 
lotment as  a  rule.  On  one  of  these  pieces  was  the  home  f)f  Joaquin 
Chabolla,  who  had  married  Julio's  daughter,  Maria  .Antonia  Longina 
Maxima,  who  was  born  March  15,  1824,  and  baptized  at  San  Gabriel 
on  the  day  following.  .At  this  date  Mrs.  Chabolla  is  still  alive,  living 
with  a  relative  in  Verdugo  Canyon.  The  Chabolla  home  was  lc)cated 
west  of  Verdugo  Road.  Maple  street  now  running  through  it.  Mrs. 
Chabolla  lived  there  until  the  property  was  sold  about  1912.  The 
others  of  these  small  homesteads,  passed  into  possession  of  the  set- 
tlers, who  came  into  the  valley  in  the  '80's. 

In  Bancroft's  history,  we  find  the  following  reference  to  Julio: 
"Julio,  son  of  Jose  Maria,  alcalde  at  San  Rafael  Raiicho  in  '31,  '33,  '36 
and  Juez  de  Campo,  '40."  The  position  of  Juez  de  Canipo,  was  an 
honorary  one  conferred  upon  the  possessor  of  the  title  by  his  fel- 
low citizens,  at  their  annual  rodeos,  when  the  cattle  were  counted 
and  separated,  his  duty  consisting  in  acting  as  judge  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  numerous  disputes  that  arose  upon  such  occasions.  This 
Judge  of  the  Camp  practically  administered  the  duties  of  his  office  in 
the  saddle,  and  holding  the  position  testified  to  the  belief  of  the  par- 
ties interested,  in  the  ability  and  fairness  of  the  incumbent. 

This  office  was  purely  honorary  under  Mexican  rule,  but  the 
United  States  government  about  1850  attached  to  the  position  a  sal- 
ary of  $100  a  year,  scarcely  enough  to  buy  the  official  the  expensive 
saddle  with  which  he  often  bestrode  an  inexpensive  horse.  The  an- 
nual rodeos  were  important  affairs,  the  horses  and  cattle  being  gath- 
ered together  to  be  identified  as  to  ownership  by  their  brands  and  dis- 
tributed to  their  respective  owners.  In  driving  ilieni  in  to  a  com- 
mon center  where  the  judge  was  awaiting  them,  there  was  oppor- 
tunity given  for  skilful  displays  of  horsemanshij).  and  as  these  af- 
fairs were  as  much  a  matter  of  pleasure  as  of  business,  there  was  al- 
ways a  large  number  of  spectators  present  to  applaud  any  particidar 
display  of  skill  among  the  riders,  all  of  whom  were  born  to  the  saddle. 
Then  the  day's  events  were  appropriately  wound  up  by  music  ami 
the  dance. 

Until  1860  land  had  no  particular  monetary  value  and  the  change 
about   that  period  came  gradually.     In   1863.   Dr.  (3riFfin  bought  a 


42  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

large  portion  of  East  Los  Angeles  for  50  cents  an  acre.  As  late  as 
1866  lots  on  Spring  Street  sold  for  $50  each.  In  that  year  Jotham 
Bixby  bought  27,000  acres  in  the  neighborhood  of  Long  Beach  for 
$125,000.  The  railroad  from  Los  .Vngeles  to  San  Pedro  was  completed 
in  1869.  It  really  stopped  at  Wilmington,  however,  the  extension  to 
San  Pedro  being  made  some  ten  or  twelve  j-ears  later.  In  1852. 
Captain  J.  D.  Hunter,  who  had  come  into  California  with  the  Ameri- 
can forces,  having  turned  his  attention  to  the  arts  of  peace,  began 
the  manufacture  of  bricks  in  Los  Angeles  and  built  the  first  brick 
house  in  that  city,  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  Main  street.  This  was 
the  property  exchanged  by  Hunter  for  land  in  the  San  Rafael  ranch. 
In  1862,  a  "great  flood"  occurred  and  the  following  year  was  marked 
by  a  disastrous  drouth,  when  cattle  died  by  thousands  and  some  are 
reported  as  having  been  sold  for  a  price  of  .37  cents  per  head.  In 
1868,  another  disastrous  flood  occurred. 

Under  the  first  grant  of  1784  Vcrdugo  claimed  all  the  land  lying 
between  the  Los  Angeles  river  and  the  Sierra  Madre,  which  took  in 
the  Rancho  La  Canada,  but  under  date  of  May  12.  1843,  Governor 
Micheltorena  issued  a  grant  to  Ygnacio  F.  Coronel,  of  the  "Rancho 
La  Canada  or  Canada  Atras  de  la  Verdugos.  which  was  later  con- 
firmed to  Benjamin  Hayes  and  Jonathan  R.  Scott  on  February  16, 
1857. 

Julio  brought  suit  against  Scott  and  Hayes  to  have  the  property 
restored  to  him.  with  the  result  that  it  was  given  back  to  Catalina 
and  himself,  in  its  entirety,  by  deed  of  December  21,  1857.  La  Canada 
was  held  in  common  by  Julio  and  Catalina.  Then,  in  1861,  they  di- 
vided the  ranches  between  them,  Catalina  taking  all  north  of  a  cer- 
tain line,  the  language  of  the  deed  on  this  point  being,  "Catalina 
Verdugo  shall  have,  hold  and  possess  all  that  portion  known  as  Ca- 
nada Atras  de  Verdugo  and  San  Rafael  which  are  situated  north  of 
a  certain  line,  beginning  at  a  point  on  the  easterly  side  of  the  Los 
Angeles  river,  nearly  opposite  the  house  of  Antonio  Feliz  (now  Grif- 
fith Park)  in  the  ]jotrero  a  short  distance  above  the  point  where  the 
hills  which  form  the  chain  called  the  Cahuenga  approach  the  said 
river;  thence  north  79°  50'  East  to  the  top  of  a  round  hill  near  the 
main  road  from  San  Gabriel;  thence  east  to  the  Piedra  Gorda  (the 
Eagle  Rock)  and  from  thence  to  the  Arroyo  Seco. 

Julio  and  his  sister  appear  to  have  kept  their  heritage  intact 
until  about  1855  when  a  portion  was  acquired,  ajjparently  under  a 
tax  sale,  by  Lewis  Granger,  a  lawyer  of  that  period,  and  was,  by 
Granger,  sold  to  J.  D.  Hunter.  The  i)roperty  he  acquired  in  the 
Rancho  San  Rafael  was  about  2.700  acres.  An  adobe  house  stood  on 
the  i)roperty,  on  the  hill  where  Verdugo  Road  and  San  Fernando 
Road  form  a  junction  near  the  school  building,  now  known  as  the 
Washington  school.  The  Hunter  family  occupied  the  adobe  for  a 
short  time  until  a  new  house  was  built  near  the  ri\er.  l)ut  two  or  three 
small  frame  residences  have  been  occupied  by  the  younger  generation 
of  the  family  in  the  same  neighborhood  until  very  recently. 

In  December,  1855,  Julio  and  Catalina  conveyed  to  J.  L.  Brent, 
that  portion  of  the  ranch  along  the  river  since  known  as  "Santa  Eu- 


(J  LEND  ALE  AND  VICINITY  43 

lalia."  Brent  was  another  lawyer  who  liad  the  X'erdugos  for  his 
clients  and  is  well  spoken  of  by  his  contemporaries  as  a  lawyer  of 
repute.  A  portion  of  this  property,  some  seven  hundred  acres,  was 
sold  by  I'rent  to  Heath  who  convened  it  to  \V.  C.  R.  Richardson, 
August  16,  1868.  Another  tract  was  sold  by  the  Verdugos  to  |.  D. 
Hunter  by  deed  of  April  10,  1866.  This  gave  Hunter  a  large  acreage 
both  in  the  southeasterly  portion  along  the  river,  and  also  in  the 
northwest  and  joining  the  Provideiicia  ranch.  On  January  12.  1858, 
J.  L.  Brent  transferred  to  J.  R.  Scott  a  tract  of  land  described  as 
"between  the  Sierra  de  la  Verdugos  fm  the  north  and  the  river  of 
Los  Angeles  on  the  south  to  the  west  of  a  line  drawn  21.06  chains 
from  the  southwest  corner  of  house  of  Fernando  Verdugo,  course 
northwest;  with  right  to  convey  water."  The  legal  documents  of 
that  time  making  these  conveyances  were  generally  written  in  Sjian- 
ish  and  as  often  as  otherwise  the  signature  was  by  mark. 

It  is  noticeable  that  except  in  one  or  two  cases.  Don  Julio  wrote 
his  signature  to  the  many  documents  that  he  issued.  The  property 
descriptions  depended  usually  upon  natural  objects  to  tie  down  the 
variation  of  lines.  Here  is  a  good  example:  "April  10,  1860.  C'atalina 
and  Julio  Verdugo,  and  Maria  Jesus  Romero  de  Verdugo  (Julio's 
wife)  conveyed  to  J.  D.  Hunter  for  a  consideration  of  $400.00  a  piece 
of  land  described  as  follows :  The  southeast  corner  of  the  Rancho 
San  Rafael  beginning  on  the  river  of  Los  Angeles  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  tract  ccjnveyed  to  J.  L.  Brent  by  Julio  and  Catalina  X'erdugo 
June  5,  1858,  thence  along  the  lioundary  line  of  said  P.rcnt  to  the 
northeast  corner  thereof  where  there  is  a  spring,  or  "aguage,"  and  a 
little  arroyo  enters  the  same  and  forms  a  junction  thereto  and  follow- 
ing the  meanderings  of  the  same  Arroyo  de  la  Cherro  in  a  northeast 
direction,  to  a  point  where  the  .\rroyo  del  Cal  through  its  mouth  to 
the  Arroyo  Seco,  or  Hondo,  thence  along  the  last  mentioned  arroyo 
to  the  ancient  Toma  de  agua.  or  city  dam  of  the  pueblo  de  Los  An- 
geles in  the  river  Los  .Angeles,  the  same  being  the  southeast  corner  of 
said  rancho,  thence  up  the  river  to  place  of  beginning."  Reference 
has  been  made  to  the  division  of  the  property  between  Catalina  and 
Julio. 

In  the  various  documents  referring  to  this  division,  there  is  a  va- 
riation in  the  description  of  the  line  on  the  north  side  of  which  wag 
Catalina's  and  on  the  south  Julio's  portion.  The  following  is  that 
given  in  the  deed  executed  April  3,  1861.  The  document  starts  out 
by  reference  to  the  grant  by  (jovcrnor  Micheltoreno  to  A.  F.  Coronel 
of  the  property  described  as  "Rancho  Canada  Atras  de  los  Verdugos," 
afterwards  confirmed  to  Hayes  and  Scott,  and  re-conveyed  by  the  lat- 
ter to  the  Verdugos  under  order  of  court.  There  is  excepted  the  three 
conveyances,  viz.:  to  Brent,  Scott  and  Hunter,  Commencing  at  a 
point  on  the  east  side  of  the  Los  Angeles  river,  nearly  opposite  the 
house  of  Antonio  Feliz  (now  Griffith  Park),  in  the  jiotrero  a  short  dis- 
tance above  the  point  where  the  hills  that  form  the  chain  called  the  Ca- 
huenga  approaches  said  river;  thence  north  79°  50'  east  passing  a 
small  alder  where  a  pile  of  stones  is  deposited  and  a  stake  driven ; 
thence  north  76°  45'  east  passing  through  a  corral  to  a  Ir)ne  alder  on 


44  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

the  southern  slope  of  the  hills  of  the  northeasterly  side  of  the  valley; 
thence  south  86°  40'  east  9  chains  to  a  point  on  the  portosuelo; 
thence  due  east  across  the  valley  called  the  Encino  Gacho  to  a  very 
large  round  stone  called  the  "Piedra  Gorda" ;  thence  due  east  to  the 
waters  of  the  Arro^-o  Seco  where  a  stake  is  driven. 

During  the  '60's  property  was  transferred,  to  and  fro,  within  the 
family  with  monotonous  frequency.  August  2,  1864,  the  name  of 
Teodoro  Verdugo  is  found  on  the  records  for  the  first  time,  as  hav- 
ing conveyed  to  him  by  his  Aunt  Catalina,  property  described  as 
follows:  "Bounded  on  the  south  by  a  sycamore  tree;  on  the  east  by 
the  Cuchilla  of  Francisco  Maria  to  the  Sierra  Madre;  on  the  north 
and  west  by  another  cuchilla  of  old  rancho  to  beginning."  Then  on 
August  14,  1867,  Teodoro  re-conveyed  this  property  to  Catalina.  This 
seems  to  have  been  land  in  Verdugo  Canyon,  and  the  sycamore  tree 
to  be  the  one  still  standing  near  the  City  reservoir.  May  22,  1868, 
Catalina,  for  a  consideration  of  $2,000,  conveyed  to  C.  V.  Howard  a 
one  fourth  interest  in  her  entire  holdings  in  both  ranches,  and  in 
August  following  she  deeded  to  Teodoro  property  rather  loosely 
described  as  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Sierra  Madre ;  on  the  east 
by  the  Arroyo  Seco;  on  the  south  by  the  Los  Angeles  river  and  on 
the  west  and  northwest  by  the  Los  Angeles  river  and  the  Rancho 
Providencia.  "containing  six  leagues  more  or  less."  In  a  deed  Novem- 
ber 30,  1868,  appear  as  grantees  the  names  of  Julio's  sons  as  follows : 
Teodoro,  Pedro,  Quirino,  Jose  Maria,  Chrysostimo,  Rafael,  Guilermo. 
Victorio  and  Fernando. 

The  available  wealth  of  the  California  rancher  consisted  in  cattle 
principally.  There  was  an  annual  slaughtering  on  all  the  big  ranches 
in  the  fall  of  the  year,  a  thousand  or  more  being  butchered  at  a  time 
for  the  hide  and  tallow.  Hides  were  worth  two  or  three  dollars 
apiece  and  tallow  brought  six  or  eight  cents  a  pound.  It  was  a  pre- 
carious business,  the  outcome  depending  entirely  upon  weather  con- 
ditions which  no  man  can  control  and  consequently  there  were  "lean" 
and  "fat"  years.  The  floods  and  drouth  no  doubt  brought  misfor- 
tune to  Don  Julio  and  drove  him  to  the  risky  expedient  of  borrowing 
money  at  the  ruinous  rate  of  interest  then  prevailing,  for  the  records 
disclose  the  following:  "Julio  Verdugo  to  J.  Elias,  January  2,  1861 — 
Julio  Verdugo  and  Maria  Jesus  Romero  de  Verdugo,  borrow 
$3,445.34,  mortgaging  all  of  the  interest  in  the  following  described 
property:  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Sierra  Madre.  on  the  east  by 
the  Arroyo  Hondo,  south  by  the  river  Los  .\ngeles  and  west  by  the 
lands  of  Jonathan  R.  Scott  now  cultivated  by  him,  excepting  lands 
sold  to  J.  D.  Hunter  and  J.  L.  Brent  with  appurtenances.  Intended 
to  secure  a  certain  note  in  the  words  and  figures  following:  $3,445.37 
Los  Angeles,  December  6.  1860.  Two  years  after  date,  without  gfrace, 
I  promise  to  pay  to  the  order  of  Jacob  Rlias  $3,445.37,  for  value  re- 
ceived, with  interest  at  3  per  cent  per  month  until  paid,  which  inter- 
est to  be  paid  each  and  every  three  months,  and  if  not  so  paid  to  be 
added  to  the  principal  and  become  a  part  thereof  and  draw  same  in- 
terest as  principal  debt. 

"This  conveyance  is  also  intended  as  a  security  to  said  party  of 


GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY  45 

second  part  in  case  he  shall  be  obliged  to  protect  his  interest  in  mort- 
gage by  the  payment  of  any  taxes,  etc..  it  having  been  agreed  tliat 
party  of  first  part  shall  pay  all  taxes  on  said  property  and  on  this 
mortgage,  and  if  said  payment  shall  be  well  and  truly  made,  then, 
these  presents  shall  be  null  and  void.  But  if  default  be  made  in  the 
jiayment  of  said  delit,  or  any  part  of  it  becomes  due,  then  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  the  party  of  the  second  part,  and  he  and  his  heirs  or  ex- 
ecutors are  authorized  to  sell  the  premises  and  every  ])art  thereof, 
rendering  the  over-plus,  if  any,  to  parties  of  the  first  part.  (Signed) 
Julio  Verdugo." 

The  original  note  is  written  on  unofficial  pajier  and  bears  the 
signature  of  the  maker  in  a  scarcely  legible  hand,  and  it  is  noticeable 
that  the  signature  of  his  wife  is  not  attached.  It  was  the  contention 
of  the  plaintiff,  when  foreclosure  proceedings  were  started  promptly 
upon  expiration  of  the  two  j'ears,  that  as  the  prf)perty  was  held  in 
common,  the  signature  of  the  wife  was  not  legally  required,  and  the 
claim  appears  to  have  been  considered  valid  by  the  court.  From  this 
time  on  for  the  next  eight  or  nine  years,  the  court  records  bear  testi- 
mony to  the  activities  of  the  Verdugos  in  transferring  and  re-trans- 
ferring their  property  from  one  to  the  other  within  the  family. 

On  April  13.  1861,  an  agreement  was  entered  into  between  Julio 
and  Catalina  that  they  hold  in  common  the  rancho  La  Canada  the 
whole  of  which  said  rancho  was  on  December  21.  1857.  conveyed  to 
Julio  Verdugo  and  Catalina  Verdugo  bj-  J.  R.  Scott,  that  the  said 
Catalina  Verdugo  shall  have,  hold  and  possess  all  that  portion, 
known  as  Canada  Atras  de  Verdugo  and  San  Rafael,  which  is  situ- 
ated north  of  a  certain  line,  the  description  of  the  line  being  as  here- 
tofore been  given,  and  which  ran  from  the  northwesterly  corner 
on  the  river,  easterly  along  the  southern  base  of  the  nearest  range 
of  mountain  and  hill,  across  the  mouth  of  Verdugo  Canyon  on  to  the 
Arroyo  Seco  by  way  of  the  Eagle  Rock.  There  was  much  conflict- 
ing testimony  given  at  the  trial,  the  defense  endeavoring  to  prove 
that  the  division  of  the  property  had  been  made  as  between  Julio  and 
Catalina,  while  the  plaintiff  introduced  a  good  deal  of  testimony  to 
show  that  it  was  held  in  common.  Probably  the  best  witness  for 
Julio  was  Juan  .Mvarado  who  testified  that  he  had  known  the  de- 
fendants since  childhood  and  that  he  had  personally  made  the  di- 
vision in  his  cai>acity  as  First  Regidor  in  18.12  or  18,1,1. 

lie  testified  that  the  line  of  division  was  a  round  rock  on  a  round 
hill  on  to  the  mouth  of  the  potrero;  Julio  took  the  southern  part. 
Julio  was  at  the  running  of  the  line;  I  do  not  remember  if  Catalina 
came  out.  Catalina  and  Julio  both  agreed  as  to  the  line  and  were 
content.  The  i)otrero  is  over  the  river  right  in  front  of  the  house  of 
Feliz.  Julio  testified:  My  sister  Catalina  now  living,  never  married. 
The  ranch  was  divided  between  me  and  Catalina  because  the  other 
heirs  had  received  their  inheritance.  It  was  divided  on  August  17, 
1832.  My  father  decided  the  property  should  be  divided  in  his  life- 
time and  after  his  death  I  applied  to  the  authorities  and  order  was 
made  to  divide  it.     1.  \'.  .'\lvarado  went  out.    The  line  went  near  the 


46  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

mouth  of  the  potrero  of  the  Feliz's  to  the  hill  situated  near  the  Mis- 
sion road  and  from  thence  to  Piedra  Gorda.  I  am  77  years  old  and 
m}'  sister  Catalina  three  years  younger  (this  was  June  1865). 

On  my  part,  in  place  called  the  Garbanza,  I  built  a  house  and  cat- 
tle pens;  I  began  the  work  in  1833.  I  put  in  a  garden  and  vineyard 
and  sowed  and  planted  corn  there.  The  house  was  finished;  I  and 
my  wife  occupied  it.  My  son  William  was  born  there.  I  was  fre- 
quently at  the  house  of  my  sister  and  always  left  some  one  at  the 
house  with  her.  On  the  hill  at  that  portion  called  the  Cienega,  I  also 
built  a  house  and  pens  and  kept  a  dairy  there.  This  was  in  1835.  It 
is  in  the  southern  part  and  on  that  set  apart  to  me  in  the  division. 
I  had  also  improvements  on  the  southern  part  at  the  place  called  the 
Telaga.  Five  years  ago  my  wife  built  a  house  at  the  Porto  Suelo 
the  place  where  we  now  live.  Previous  to  going  there  I  lived  at 
the  Loma  ( ?)  and  the  Garbanza.  I  have  never  left  these  places  un- 
occupied. I  and  my  sister  staid  with  each  other  frequently.  I  have 
never  to  my  knowledge  signed  any  paper  that  ranch  was  not  di- 
vided. The  deed  of  April  13,  1861.  was  not  so  interpreted  to  me.  I 
have  had  my  separate  part  since  1832.  My  father  died  April  12.  1832 
(the  San  Gabriel  record  say.s  1831).  He  directed  in  his  will  that 
rancho  be  divided  between  me  and  Catalina.  My  sons  now  live  in 
the  house  built  by  me  at  the  Garbanza.  The  first  house  there  was 
built  of  brush  and  then  we  made  adobes  and  put  them  up.  It  is  the 
same  house  now  standing.  The  house  built  at  the  small  hill  near  the 
Cienega  is  still  there  and  is  rented  to  Mr.  Lanfranco.  It  is  of  adobe. 
We  lived  at  the  house  with  the  family  over  four  years.  I  was  living 
in  the  bottom  when  the  flood  came  and  we  were  forced  out.  The  gar- 
dens had  been  there  eight  or  nine  years.  My  legal  adviser  from  1851 
to  1861  was  Mr.  Brent,  and  until  he  went  away.  I  told  Brent  about 
the  division  and  he  asked  me  for  a  piece  of  the  southern  part. 

J.  D.  Hunter  testified  that  he  had  known  the  land  since  1855.  At 
the  time  the  greater  part  of  the  Verdugo  family  lived  in  the  old  house 
of  the  ranch  in  the  northwest  part.  When  he  went  to  see  Julio  in 
1860  he  found  him  living  in  a  jacale.  The  old  ranch  house  would 
fall  north  of  the  partition  line.  Had  seen  cultivated  land  in  the  south 
part  of  the  rancho  since  1860.  Saw  no  house  in  1860,  there  were  three 
or  four  jacales. 

Cyrus  Lyons  testified  that  he  lived  at  the  Providencia  ranch, 
and  had  known  the  San  Rafael  since  1850.  The  Verdugos  lived  in 
the  old  ranch  house  then.  Had  been  ])resent  at  many  of  the  rodeos 
and  escojidas  which  Julio  gave  on  the  ranch;  his  own  stock  was 
there  and  he  had  to  go  after  them.  The  first  fields  he  ever  saw  Julio 
and  sons  at  work  on  were  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  ranch  near 
Scotts  line.  Had  seen  other  cultivations  near  the  Porto  Suelo  and 
Piedra  Gorda,  of  which  were  corn,  barley  and  beans.  There  was  a 
vineyard  near  the  old  ranch  house  which  Julio  and  boys  worked. 
A.  F.  Coronel  testified  that  he  had  known  the  lands  since  1840;  when 
he  first  knew  the  ranch  Julio  lived  in  the  old  house,  near  mouth  of 
the  Canada.     He  still  lived  there  in  1833.     At  present  he  lixed  in  the 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  47 

new  house  two  or  three  miles  southeast  of  the  old,  which  is  north  of 
the  partition  line  of  1861.  Knew  J.  L.  Rrent  intimately;  he  spoke 
and  understood  Spanish  and  was  a  lawyer  of  repute. 

Saw  cultivated  fields  near  Julio's  present  residence  for  the  first 
time  last  year.  He  was  part  owner  of  La  Canada  until  sold  to  Scott 
and  remembered  a  lawsuit  that  X'erdugo  hrouji^bt  ajjainst  them  for 
trespass.  Was  County  Assessor  for  several  terms  previous  to  1860; 
Julio  made  returns  of  the  whole  rancho  for  assessment,  but  it  was 
always  understood  that  it  belonjfed  to  brother  and  sister.  Was  Colin- 
dente  for  several  years.     Never  heard  of  any  partition  of  the  rancho. 

Manuel  Garfias.  a  resident  of  San  Pascual,  testified  he  had 
known  the  San  Rafael  for  twenty  years.  In  1843  Julio  and  family 
lived  in  the  old  ranch  house.  Julio  and  wife  lived  there  until  1859. 
There  was  a  vineyard  and  fields  of  grain  near  the  old  ranch  house 
which  were  worked  by  Julio  and  his  sons.  Jacob  Elias,  the  plaintiff, 
testified.  Knew  lands  since  1852  or  1853.  Julio,  his  wife  and  Catalina 
lived  in  the  ok\  ranch  house.  Knew  where  the  new  house  was.  Was 
there  at  the  time  of  the  barley  crop  in  August  or  September,  1861. 
Was  no  house  there  then.  Had  seen  plantations  west  of  the  old  house 
towards  San  Fernando.  The  oldest  boy  worked  fields  on  his  own 
hook,  the  others  worked  with  their  father.  Had  generally  bought 
what  grain  they  had  to  sell.  Julio's  new  house  is  about  three  miles 
from  the  old  ranch  house.  Never  saw  corrals  or  fields  near  the  place 
of  the  new  house  until  1858. 

The  note  sued  on  was  given  for  a  bill  for  goods,  for  money  paid 
for  taxes,  for  provisions  and  seeds.  A  part  was  to  pay  for  lumber 
used  in  Julio's  new  house  at  the  Porto  Suelo.  Always  dealt  with 
Julio,  never  with  Catalina.  The  mortgage  was  not  signed  by  Julio's 
wife  because  I  did  not  present  it  to  her  to  sign.  Mr.  Drown  (his  at- 
torney) said  that  the  point  was  settled  by  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
that  the  signature  of  the  wife  was  unnecessary  if  the  property  was  in 
common. 

Manuel  Uominguez  told  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  ranch  and 
the  Verdugo  family  since  1850,  and  of  fields  towards  San  Fernando  in 
the  West.  He  was  Prelect  in  1832  and  1833.  He  did  not  know  of  any 
partition  of  the  ranch. 

Francisco  Sepulveda,  a  son-in-law  of  Julio,  testified  that  lie  had 
known  the  ranch  for  twenty  years,  and  that  Julio  worked  fields  on 
both  sides  of  the  partition  line,  and  lived  at  the  old  house  at  times, 
perhaps,  for  a  year  at  a  time.  Julio  used  to  sow  on  the  north  side  of 
the  line  whenever  he  took  a  fancy. 

Jose  Sepulveda  testified  that  Julio  lived  in  various  places  on  the 
ranch  and  could  scarcely  be  said  to  have  a  permanent  home.  Other 
testimony  showed  that  Julio  made  his  home  frequently  in  jacales  lo- 
cated where  the  crops  were  to  be  gathered. 

At  another  time  Elias  testified  that  he  had  been  engaged  in  mer- 
chandising in  Los  Angeles  for  twelve  years,  i)ut  was  absent  in  Europe 
from  1858  to  1860.  Julio  and  Catalina  occupied  the  lands  in  com- 
mon, and  resided  together  in  the  old  house  situated  in  the  northwest 
part  of  the  ranch,  from  1852  to  1861.     He  was  frequently  at  the  ranch 


48  glendalp:  and  vicinity 

during  the  time  of  planting  and  harvesting,  furnishing  Julio  with 
money  for  seeds,  taxes,  etc.,  taking  in  payment  whatever  produce  he 
had  to  dispose  of. 

The  Judge  of  the  court,  Pablo  de  la  Guerra.  seems  to  have  been  in 
sympathy  with  the  defendant  Verdugo.  and  gave  a  decision  in  his 
favor,  against  the  plaintiff,  which  was  unsatisfactory  to  the  plaintiff 
and  an  appeal  was  taken  to  the  supreme  court  and  in  October,  1866. 
the  judgment  was  reversed  on  the  ground  that,  "We  consider  the 
demonstration  that  the  occupation  was  joint  and  not  several  from 
1832  to  1861,  when  there  was  a  formal  partition  by  deed,  so  far  com- 
plete as  to  justify  a  reversal." 

The  findings  of  the  Court  on  April  30,  1864,  shows  that  the  de- 
cree awarded  Elias  the  sum  of  $10,795  and  goes  on  to  state  that,  Julio 
and  Catalina  Verdugo  had  I)een  in  possession  and  had  made  division 
before  the  lands  came  under  the  United  States  government;  that 
Catalina  resided  on  the  north  half  containing  the  old  family  resi- 
dence. That  Julio  moved  to,  and  built  on.  and  resided  with  his  wife 
and  family  on  the  southern  half;  that  the  same  was  duly  recorded  as 
their  homestead  in  April,  1861.  Court  finds  that  plaintiff  is  entitled 
to  foreclosure  on  La  Canada ;  defendant  to  a  homestead  on  San  Ra- 
fael. Then,  the  Court  adds  an  opinion:  "Under  the  Me.xican  gov- 
ernment and  law  a  parole  division  of  land  followed  by  pt)Ssession  was 
as  binding  as  one  made  in  writing.  That  under  the  customs  and 
usages,  as  they  prevailed  in  California,  it  is  within  the  knowledge  of 
the  court  that  division  of  ranches  among  heirs  were  seldom  reduced 
to  writing.  They  were  nearly  always  verbal  and  when  followed  by 
possession  were  always  considered  valid  and  binding  on  the  parties. 

There  were  seldom  any  fences  or  enclosures  to  mark  the  division 
of  estates.  There  were  few  law  books  and  less  lawyers  in  California 
while  the  country  was  under  the  Mexico  government.  The  country 
was  governed  to  a  great  extent  by  custom.  Contracts  and  even  sales 
of  real  estate  were  generally  verbal  resting  on  custom  and  the  good 
faith  of  the  primitive  people.  Under  such  a  system,  it  cannot  well 
be  doubted  that  a  division  of  land  by  parole  was  as  valid  as  it  would 
have  been  by  written  instrument  in  due  form." — Pablo  de  la  Guerra. 
District  Judge. 

Appeal  seems  to  have  been  made  principally  on  the  grounds  that 
defendant  should  not  have  been  awarded  the  homestead.  Judge  de  la 
Guerra  denying  the  motion  for  a  new  trial  and  being  overruled  by 
the  higher  court  as  stated  above.  The  case  was  tried  and  tried  again. 
On  June  3,  1865,  another  decision  awards  Elias  the  sum  of  $15,955.02, 
with  interest  from  May  26.  1865,  at  three  jier  cent  a  month.  Then  fol- 
lowed more  legal  battling  until  the  final  decision  of  February  4,  1869, 
by  which  the  plaintiff  was  awarded  the  siun  of  $56,878.21  and  an  or- 
der for  sale  of  the  projierty  issued. 

Lawyers  fees  and  other  charges  swelled  this  total  to  $58,750. 
for  which  amount  the  property  was  sold  to  .Alfred  B.  Chapman  on 
March  8.  1869,  by  Thomas  Sanchez,  Sheriff.  By  stipulation  it  was 
agreed  that  the  purchaser  should  deed  back  to  Verdugo  a  homestead 
of  200  acres  surrounding  the  residence  that  he  occupied  at  that  time. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  4!t 

By  this  conveyance  to  liiiii  1)\  Chapman.  Julio  retained  98  acres  of 
level  land  on  the  west  side  ol  X'erdiigo  Road,  and  102  acres,  mostly 
hilly  on  the  east-side  opposite,  wiiere  iiis  luiuse  stood. 

Althougfii  the  mortgage  given  by  Julio  purported  to  cover  all  his 
interest  in  both  La  Canada  and  San  Rafael  ranches,  it  is  evident  that 
his  interest  in  the  former  was  not  recognized  by  the  court  in  render- 
ing final  judgment,  although  the  interest  of  Catalina  (who  had  not 
joined  in  the  mortgage)  was  concecled.  The  property  afterwards 
owned  and  occupied  by  the  family  in  Verdugo  Canyon  was  acquired 
by  transfer  from  Catalina  to  Teodoro,  a  son  of  Julio.  This  include<i 
the  old  homestead  at  the  "Cienega"  where  the  old  adobe  still  stands. 

There  were  several  instances  where  deeds  were  given  by  brother 
and  sister,  and  the  heirs  of  Julio,  followed,  almost  immediately,  by 
filing  of  suits  to  set  the  same  aside,  in  some  instances  with  apparent 
success,  but  the  record  is  so  confused  by  these  contradictory  trans- 
actions that  the  ultimate  outcome  is  difficult  to  trace.  Even  the  200 
acres  did  not  remain  intact  for  any  considerable  time,  as  a  portion 
of  the  allotment  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  passed  into  the  posses- 
sion of  C.  V.  Howard,  one  of  the  Verdugo  attorneys. 

Within  a  year  after  the  final  decision,  by  the  way,  Howard  was 
shot  and  killed  in  Los  .\ngeles  by  Dan  Nichols. 

Don  Julio  continued  to  live  in  the  adobe  built  by  his  wife  at 
Porto  Suelo.  for  seven  years  after  the  loss  of  the  bulk  of  his  princely 
estate;  remembered  by  Judge  Ross,  Sam  Hunter,  Jose  Olivas  and  a 
few  of  the  surviving  pioneers  of  that  time,  as  a  picturesque  character 
generally  described  as  traveling  on  horseback  around  the  valley 
dressed  in  the  quaint  costume  of  the  Spanish  cabellero,  and  making 
almost  daily  visits  to  Los  Angeles,  usually  accompanied  by  one  or 
more  of  his  sons,  similarly  mounted  but  not  so  consjiicuously 
attired. 

Tr.NNSFERS  of    Rk.VLTV    in    TIIK    SlXTlKS 

About  the  first  transfer  we  find  in  the  records,  made  l)y  Julio 
Verdugo,  is  one  written  in  Spanish  by  which  for  a  consideration  of 
$4,000  Verdugo  deeds  to  J.  ll.  I'rcnt,  the  Rancho  .Santa  F.ulalia,  on 
December  18,  1855.  This  does  not  appear  to  convey  all  of  the  ranch, 
however,  for  another  transfer  api)ears,  dated  January  5,  1858,  also  to 
Brent,  conveying  "a  part  of  the  Rancho  Santa  luilalia."  The  first 
deed  is  signed  by  Julio  only.  The  second  names  a  consideration  of 
$2,000  and  is  signed  by  Julio  and  Catalina,  the  latter  by  mark. 

On  January  11,  1858,  the  record  of  a  deed  appears  conveying  cer- 
tain lands  to  J.  R.  Scott,  consideration  $2,000.  This  document  is 
signed  by  Julio,  Catalina  and  Maria  Jesus  Romero  (Julio's  wife),  the 
two  latter  by  mark. 

January  12,  1858,  J.  L.  Brant  deeded  to  J.  R.  Scott,  land  described 
as  follows:  "Between  the  sierra  de  la  Verdugos  on  the  north  and  the 
river  of  Los  Angeles  on  the  south  to  the  west  of  a  line  drawn  21.06 
chains  from  the  southwest  corner  of  house  of  Fernando  Verdugo 
course  northwest ;  with  right  to  convey  water." 

On  January   11,  1858,  J.  R.  Scott  conveyed  to  Julio  and  Catalina 


50  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Verdugo,  for  a  consideration  of  $2,000,  Rancho  La  Canada,  conveyed 
to  Coronel  by  Micheltoreno  in  1843.  This  transfer  appears  to  have 
been  the  outcome  of  a  suit  against  Coronel,  brought  by  Verdugo  who 
claimed  both  La  Canada  and  San  Rafael  by  the  grant  of  1784,  but 
which  was  given  to  Coronel  by  Governor  Micheltoreno,  in  apparent 
disregard  of  the  first  grant. 

On  November  15,  1853,  Jose  Desidero  Ybarra  and  Maria  de  Jesus 
Belerina  Lorenzana,  executed  a  document  giving  F.  Melius  and  J.  R. 
Scott  the  right  to  build  a  zanja  and  conduct  water  to  a  mill,  the  lo- 
cation of  which  is  uncertain. 

August  10,  1864,  Catalina  deeded  to  one  Carabajal  for  a  con- 
sideration of  $100  land  described  as  follows :  Bounded  on  the  east  by 
the  road  of  the  Arrastraderos,  on  the  west  by  the  river,  on  the  south 
by  certain  place  called  La  Lomita.  The  north  boundary  to  com- 
prise a  certain  place  called  Las  Tunas  and  from  there  to  the  "Eva- 
bija"  and  from  thence  to  the  house  of  Fernando  Verdugo  and  the 
river  of  Los  Angeles.  This  was  re-conveyed  by  Carabajal  to  Ver- 
dugo on  August  14,  1867. 

On  August  14,  1867,  Teodoro  \'erdugo  conveyed  to  Catalina  his 
undivided  half  interest  in  property  described  as  follows:  Bounded  on 
the  south  by  a  sycamore  tree  near  fence  of  party  of  first  part;  on 
the  east  by  the  cuchilla  of  Francisco  Maria  to  the  Sierra  Madre;  on 
the  north  and  west  by  another  cuchilla  of  old  rancho  to  beginning — 
being  same  tract  conveyed  to  first  party  by  deed  August  2,  1864.  This 
all  came  back  to  Teodoro  by  deed  given  by  Catalina,  under  date  of 
August  24,  1868,  when  she  conveyed  t<>  him  land  bounded  "On  the 
north  by  the  Sierra  Madre;  on  the  east  by  the  Arroyo  Seco;  on  the 
south  by  the  Los  .Angeles  river ;  on  the  west  and  northwest  by  Los 
Angeles  river  and  Rancho  Providencia,  descrilsing  both  ranches,  con- 
taining six  leagues  more  or  less." 

November  30,  1868,  Julio's  nine  sons  gave  a  deed  to  C.  V.  Howard 
''their  attorney)  "all  right,  title  and  interest"  in  both  ranches. 

June  21,  1870,  Catalina  deeded  to  C.  E.  Thorn,  "the  undivided 
half  of  each  ranch."  Thoin  afterwards  deeded  back  certain  portions, 
comprising  an  excess  of  what  was  intended  to  be  conveyed  in  the  first 
instance. 

Julio's  wife,  Maria  de  Jesus,  died  April,  1872,  aged  98  years. 
And  on  January,  1876,  passed  the  sou!  of  Don  Julio,  his  body  being 
carried  to  the  Church  of  the  Archangel  at  San  Gabriel  where  it  was 
interred  with  the  numerous  members  of  his  family  of  the  same  and 
preceding  generations  that  had  gone  liefore.  According  to  his  own 
word  he  was  88  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death,  but  the  San  Ga- 
briel record  bears  evidence  of  uncertainty  as  is  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing extract :  "Julio  Verdugo,  die  14  Enero  de  1876  hijo  Jose  Ma. 
Verdugo  and  I'lncarnacion  de  Lopez,  native  of  Mexico  a  la  edad 
de  80  anos." 

Catalina  V^erdugo  was  born  at  San  Gabriel  in  1782,  and  died 
June  1,  1871.  She  never  married.  During  the  last  few  years  of  her  life 
she  was  blind  as  the  result  of  smallpox.  Her  property.  La  Canada, 
escaped  foreclosure  when  the  San  Rafael  was  lost  to  Julio.    She  made 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  f)! 

a  large  number  of  conveyances  and  in  several  instances  brought  suit 
to  cancel  the  same.  In  the  suit  brought  in  March,  1870.  asking  for  a 
partition  of  the  ranch  among  various  claimants,  it  was  stated  that 
there  were  involved  some  thirty  conveyances  made  bj'  Catalina  and 
four  or  five  by  Julio.  It  would  seem  that  eventually  Catalina  had 
nothing  left,  but  her  kindness  to  her  favorite  nephew  Teodoro  to 
whom  she  had  conve3-ed  a  tract  of  about  2,700  acres,  secured  her  a 
home  and  care  in  her  old  age  as  she  testified  in  the  case  above  men- 
tioned, that  Teodoro  had  tal<en  care  of  her,  "although  he  had  a  large 
family  of  his  own." 

Teodoro  was  living  in  the  adobe  in  Verdugn  Canyon  in  1870 
and  probably  for  a  considerable  number  of  years,  previously,  re- 
maining there  with  his  family  until  his  death  in  1904,  after  which  his 
estate  was  divided  among  the  heirs,  whr)  dis])osed  of  it  from  time  to 
time,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  portion  on  Verdugo  Canyon  Road, 
upon  which  a  new  house  was  erected  in  which  resides  the  widow  of 
Teodoro  and  his  youngest  daughter,  Mrs.  Bullock. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  PASSING  OF  THE  SAGE  BRUSH  PERIOD 

GENERAL  CONDITIONS  IN  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA  IN  THE 
EARLY  EIGHTIES.  ADVENT  OF  WICKS.  WRIGHT.  HODGKINS  AND 
WATTS,  SUB-DIVIDERS.  EARLY  SETTLERS  IN  THE  VALLEY.  RE.\L 
ESTATE  TRANSACTIONS  IN  1883-4,  CKIMES  OF  VIOLENCE  RECALLED. 
ENTER  THE  HOME  BUILDERS  OF  1883,  BYRAM.  PATTERSON,  MILLER 
ET  AL,  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  POST  OFFICES,  EARLY  IMPROVE- 
MENT ASSOCIATION.  THE  CiLENDALE  ENCINAL.  TOWN  SITE  OF 
GLENDALE  APPEARS.  "ST.  HILD.VS  HALL."  ANOTHER  IMPROVE- 
MENT ASSOCIATION.  HIGH  SCHOOL  ESTABLISHED.  BANKS  ESTAB- 
LISHED.   THE    FOOT-HILL    SECTION    AND    ITS    EARLY    RESIDENTS. 

The  period  covered  by  the  succeeding  sub-division  of  this  work 
is  alluded  to  as  "The  Municipality  of  Glendale"  but  the  development 
of  the  section  now  covered  b)-  the  city  antedates  the  creation  of  the 
municipality  by  about  25  years.  The  story  of  this  development  be- 
gins about  1880.  Southern  California  at  this  time  was  just  starting 
to  grow  and  the  decade  then  beginning  was  marked  by  an  astonish- 
ing increase,  not  only  in  population,  but  also  in  the  material  develop- 
ment of  the  country,  that  outranked  all  precedent.  This  is  indicated 
to  some  extent  by  the  fact  that  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  county 
of  Los  Angeles  outside  the  city  was  about  $20,000,000  in  1880,  and 
this  had  risen  in  1887  to  $63,000,000.  This  last  named  year,  however, 
witnessed  the  collapse  of  the  "boom,"  and  in  1890  values  had  almost 
gone  back  to  their  starting  point.  But  the  influx  of  people  although 
greatly  decreased  in  number  did  not  cease,  for  although  the  tourist 
crop  was  almost  negligible  for  several  years,  the  home  builders  con- 
tinued to  come  in  steadily. 

The  Southern  Pacific  railroad  connecting  San  Francisco  with  Los 
Angeles  had  been  completed  in  1876,  but  had  no  appreciable  effect 
upon  conditions  in  the  south  as  compared  with  the  completion  of  that 
line  to  a  connection  with  the  Santa  Fe  System  in  1881.  The  author  of 
this  work  speaks  from  personal  recollection  of  this  period  as  he  trav- 
eled over  this  route  in  June,  1881.  At  that  time  the  Southern  Pacific 
rails  were  laid  to  Deming,  New  Mexico,  where  connection  was  made 
with  the  Santa  Fe  system,  a  change  of  cars  being  necessary;  it  was 
also  necessary  that  time  ])ieces  be  changed  from  Midwest  to  Pacific 
coast  time,  and  vice  versa,  a  difference  of  two  hnurs;  standard  time 
not  having  at  that  time  been  adopted. 

Los  Angeles  had  then  a  population  of  about  10,000  people,  but  a 
change  was  soon  noticeable  on  the  streets  of  the  sleepy  town,  as  new 
faces  were  seen  on  the  streets  daily.  One  of  the  elements  entering 
into  the  great  influx  of  people  during  this  period  was  the  competition 
between  the  railroad  companies  which  culminated  in  the  rate  war  of 
1886.    Trans-continental  fares  were  as  low  as  twenty-five  dollars  one 


nLPLN'DALE  AND  ViriNlTY  53 

way  for  several  iiionths  and  duriiiuf  one  crazy  week  they  went  down 
to  one  dollar  for  transportation  between  Kansas  City  and  Los  An- 
greles.  This  rate  actually  held  for  only  one  day  but  for  several  days 
the  ticket  agents  sold  tickets  for  almost  any  price  that  the  traveler 
cared  to  pay.  The  accommodations  furnished  during  this  period  were 
not  such  as  in  themselves  would  lure  anyone  to  leave  the  comforts 
of  home  and  take  to  the  rail  in  search  of  a  pleasant  experience.  In 
three  years  of  this  period,  from  1884  to  1887,  ])roperty  values  in  the 
county  increased  300  per  cent.  New  town-sites  were  started  in  every 
direction  and  the  greatest  wonder  in  connection  with  the  matter  is 
that  so  many  of  them  ct)ntinued  to  not  only  exist  but  to  prosi)er  as 
quite  a  number  of  them  have.  Glcndale  was  not  a  "borun"  town,  but 
it  had  its  experience  in  fluctuating  values. 

M.  ]..  Wicks  was,  in  1880.  a  I-os  Angeles  attorney  who  although 
apparently  having  fair  success  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  was 
also  a  gentleman  of  vision,  and  early  in  the  boom  era  began  to  specu- 
late in  real  estate  and  the  records,  from  1881  to  1887,  show  that  in 
the  number  of  real  estate  transactions  during  that  period  he  was  well 
along  in  the  race  for  leadership. 

The  writer  remembers  Mr.  Wicks  as  a  smof)th  spoken  gent'eman, 
typical  of  the  southern  state  from  whence  he  came.  When  last  heard 
from  he  was  residing  in  Ventura  county  and  if  he  still  lives  is  the  last 
of  the  quartette.  Wicks,  Wright,  Hodgkins  and  Watts,  to  survive. 
These  four  men  opened  up  the  valley  in  which  Glendale  now  stands, 
to  settlement.  E.  T.  Wright  was  a  surveyor,  at  one  time  serving  as 
County  Surveyor.  He  had  an  oRice,  at  the  period  spoken  of,  in  the  old 
Downey  Block,  at  the  junction  of  Temple  and  Main  Streets,  torn 
down  to  make  way  for  the  Federal  building  now  standing  there.  As 
a  surveyor,  doing  a  large  business  in  that  line,  Mr.  Wright  had  ex- 
ceptional chances  for  posting  himself  upon  "good  things"  in  the  way 
of  land  investments  and  he  and  Mr.  Wicks  were  the  two  most  active 
members  of  the  combine.  C.  H.  Watts  was  a  Pasadena  capitalist 
and  Mr.  E.  II.  Hodgkins  was  also  a  retired  capitalist  of  Los  .'\ngeles, 
lured  out  of  retirement  by  the  ])rospects  of  fortune  getting,  which 
were  never  much  better  than  at  the  time  spoken  of. 

The  subdivisions  made  by  these  men  appear  on  all  the  maps  of 
Glendale,  particularly  in  the  eastern  portion  and  in  the  Tropico  sec- 
tion. Before  alluding  further  to  their  particular  work  along  this  line, 
however,  it  may  be  well  to  refer  to  a  few  of  the  early  settlers  who 
preceded  these  sidjdividers.  On  the  San  Fernando  Road  were  located 
John  W.  Cook,  an  old  Indian  fighter  who  died  about  1915,  John  Hodg- 
son and  Robert  Devine.  All  of  these  men  had  consideral)le  acreage. 
Cook  and  Hodgson  being  on  the  north  side  of  the  road  and  Devine  on 
the  south.  Hodgson  was  a  G.  A.  R.  veteran,  a  good  quiet  citizen  who 
took  no  part  in  public  affairs.  Robert  Devine  was  a  pioneer  of  '49,  a 
sturdy  Irishman,  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 

W.  C.  B.  Richardson  was  living  with  his  family  in  a  commodious 
two-story  house  l.ietween  the  railroad  and  the  river  in  the  center  of  his 
Santa  Eulalia  ranch  which  he  had  owned  since  1868,  having  purchased 
the  seven  hundred  and  more  acres  for  $2,500. 


54  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

On  what  is  now  Glendale  avenue  extending  west  to  Central  was 
the  acreage  belonging  to  H.  J.  Crow,  improved  by  orange  orchards 
and  on  which  at  that  time  (1880)  the  now  immense  eucalyptus  trees 
were  probably  five  years  old.  On  the  foothills  between  Verdugt) 
Canon  and  Casa  Verdugo  were  the  ranches  of  C.  E.  Thorn  and  E.  M. 
Ross,  with  a  large  acreage  already  planted  to  citrus  and  other  fruit 
trees.  Westward  of  these  ranches  was  the  home  of  Fernando  Sepul- 
veda,  a  son-in-law  of  Julio  Verdugo,  and  further  westward  the  "San- 
chez place."'  On  both  of  these  stood  then  the  original  abode  build- 
ings, and  on  both  were  orchards  of  bearing  fruit  trees.  On  the  more 
easterly  one.  the  "Casa  \^erdugo,"  alone,  survives  the  adobe  build- 
ing. On  what  is  now  West  Broadway,  near  the  San  Fernando  Road, 
was  the  Bulb's  place  of  forty  acres  and  near  to  it  also  in  the  vineyard 
of  120  acres  which  these  two  and  John  Woolsey  had  planted  on  the 
shares  for  Andrew  Glassell,  were  the  homes  of  Woolsey  and  I'eter 
Bachman.  .\long  \'erdugo  Road  were  a  few  places  of  small  acreage, 
occupied  by  several  members  of  the  \^erdugo  family  and  relatives. 
One  of  these  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  by  a  large  rock,  was  the 
original  homestead  of  Julio  Verdugo,  occupied  in  1880  by  his  son. 
Jose  Maria  \'erdugo  II.  then  a  man  of  about  65  years  of  age.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  road  a  little  further  north  was  the  home  of  Joaquin 
Chabolla,  whose  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Julio,  and  who  at  this  time 
(1922)  still  survives,  the  last  of  her  family,  at  an  age  of  nearly  100 
years. 

A  picture  of  the  section  that  became  Glendale  is  that  given  by 
one  of  the  pioneers,  Mr.  Wesley  H.  Hullis.  who  as  a  boy  came  to  the 
valley  in  1880,  with  his  father  P.  H.  Bulbs,  and  other  members  of  the 
family,  occupying  forty  acres  on  West  Broadway  near  San  Fernando 
Road  :  "It  didn't  take  long  to  count  all  the  houses  that  were  then  in 
sight.  We  could  see  two  adobe  houses  over  on  the  Los  Feliz  ranch, 
then  there  was  a  four-room  house  on  the  Crow  ranch  (Lomita  Park 
now).  On  the  Thom  and  Ross  ranches  were  two  board  houses. 
West  of  Thom's  was  the  adobe  house  of  Fernando  Sepulveda  and  still 
further  west  the  'Sanchez  ])lace'  where  there  was  another  adobe. 
J.  W.  Cook  and  the  Hunters  were  living,  the  first  on  San  Fernando 
Road  and  the  others  near  the  river  and  at  the  junction  of  \'erdugo 
Road  and  San  Fernando. 

"That  is  about  all  I  can  recall  except  some  small  houses  occupied 
by  Mexicans  over  about  'Portosuelo'  along  V^erdugo  Road.  H.  J. 
Crow  had  orchards  of  pear,  peach  and  seedling  orange  trees,  four  or 
five  years  old.  The  eucalyptus  trees  that  now  stand  along  Lomita 
Avenue,  were  at  that  time  I  should  judge,  about  ten  years  old.  The 
family  of  J.  F.  Dunsmoor  moved  in  soon  after  we  arrived ;  they  occu- 
pied a  house  that  stood  under  a  big  oak  tree  between  the  railroad 
track  and  the  river.  The  school  house  was  on  Verdugo  Road  at  about 
the  corner  of  Wilson  Avenue.  The  Dunsmoor  boys  furnished  one 
horse  and  I  another  and  a  wagon  and  after  clearing  a  road  through 
the  cactus  we  drove  to  and  from  school.  This  was  in  1881 ;  the 
teacher  was  a  Miss  Levering  who  boarded  at  Dunsmoores.  About 
two  years  after  this  we  were  very  much  disgusted  one  day  to  find  that 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  55 

they  had  built  a  store  right  in  (Uir  road  at  what  is  imw  Glendale 
Avenue  and  Wilson;  we  had  to  clear  out  more  cactus  to  get  around  it. 
Roy  Lanternian  (now  'Dr.')  was  one  of  the  pupils  at  the  Verdugo 
Road  school ;  he  rode  on  horseback  between  the  school  house  and  his 
home  at  La  Canada. 

"W'e  used  to  have  a  good  deal  of  trouble  with  a  buncli  of  Chileans 
who  lived  over  near  the  river.  There  was  several  families  of  them 
and  they  had  accumulated  in  some  way  a  hundred  head  of  horses, 
cattle  and  other  stock.  Their  horses  ran  wild  and  every  now  and  then 
my  father  would  catch  one  on  his  land  and  make  the  owner  pay  a  dol- 
lar to  get  it  again.     They  didn't  like  him  at  all. 

"One  morning  I  saw  a  jirocession  coming  down  the  road  tuw.-irds 
Los  Angeles,  that  certainly  made  an  odd  picture.  It  was  the  exodus 
of  the  Chileans;  they  had  all  their  live  stock,  humans  and  otherwise, 
driving  the  animals  along  in  a  cloud  of  dust  with  two  or  three  carts 
drawn  by  oxen  loaded  with  their  possessions.  They  disappeared  in 
the  dust  toward  Los  Angeles  and  we  never  heard  of  them  afterwards 
and  we  were  certainly  glad  to  have  them  go." 

The  story  told  of  hfiw  Mr.  Bullis  and  some  others  acquired  their 
land  is  interesting : 

Mr.  Andrew  Glassell  owned  a  large  tract  of  land  l)uunded  on  the 
east  by  Central  .\venue  and  extending  to  the  I^os  Angeles  river.  Of 
this  land  there  were  si.x  forty-acre  tracts  east  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad,  and  four  others  on  the  west  side  of  the  railroad  tracks.  Mr. 
(ilassell  entered  into  contracts  covering  the  six  pieces  east  of  the  rail- 
road, with  P.  H.  Bullis,  Peter  Bachman  and  John  \\'oolsey;  and  with 
[.  F.  Dunsmoor  and  Mike  Hayes  on  the  other  side  covering  the  160 
acres  there.  In  accordance  with  these  contracts  each  of  the  five  men 
named  was  to  plant,  care  for  and  bring  into  bearing  forty  acres  of 
vineyard  within  four  years.  Mr.  (jlassell  furnished  the  vines.  Each 
was  to  receive  when  his  part  of  the  contract  was  fulfilled,  a  deed  to 
an  adjoining  forty  acres  of  land.  It  was  also  provided  that  in  case 
the  plantings  were  not  a  success,  the  land  to  be  given  for  the  work 
was  to  be  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  growing  vines,  as  for  in- 
stance if  only  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  vines  grew,  the  land  re- 
ceived by  the  planters  was  to  be  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  forty 
acres,  etc.  The  plantings  by  Mr.  Bullis  were  so  successful  that  at 
the  end  of  two  and  a  half  years  his  planting  was  100  ]jer  cent  perfect, 
and  Mr.  Glassell  presented  him  with  a  deed  to  his  forty  acres. 

This  forty  acres  was  the  most  northerly  portion  of  the  tract  along 
Broadway;  adjoining  it  on  the  south  was  the  forty  acres  planted  l)y 
John  Woolsey,  and  below  that  the  forty  planted  by  Peter  Bachman. 
These  two  last  named  also  made  good  and  received  their  deeds.  ( )n 
the  other  side  oi  the  track  J.  E.  Dunsmoor  received  something  less 
than  forty  acres  and  Mr.  Hayes  failed  entirely. 

The  property  that  Hayes  planted  was  bought  by  George  1'". 
Woodward  about  1884.  Mr.  Woodward  was  a  G.  .\.  K.  veteran  and 
an  active  worker,  practicularly  in  the  church,  among  the  pioneers. 
He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Los  Angeles  police  force  abnut 
1886  and  after  twenty  years  of  service  was  retired,  a  few  j'cars  ago. 


56  GLENDALE  AND  VI(  IXITY 

and  still  survives.  One  of  the  early  settlers  was  J.  \V.  C.  IJuchanan, 
who  had  five  acres  of  land  adjoining  the  school  house,  .\fter  his 
death  this  propertv  was  sold  to  Mr.  Richardson  for  $1,500.  This  was 
about  1898. 

It  was  into  this  valley  under  the  conditions  described  above  that 
Wicks,  Wright,  Watts  and  Hodgkins  came  early  in  1883.  On  March 
fourth  of  that  year  Benjamin  Dreyfus,  of  Anaheim,  conveyed  to  the 
four  persons  named  above,  a  tract  of  land  containing  8,424.3.^  acres  ex- 
cepting only  a  small  tract  formerly  conveyed  to  one  Wilson;  the  pur- 
chase price  being  $50,000,  of  which  sum  $12,500  was  paid  down  and 
the  balance  in  tuo  years.     This  land  was  classified  as  follous: 

A — Under  the  city  ditch  (described  above)  195  acres.  Under 
Verdugo  water,  305  acres,  each  acre  of  this  500  being  rated  as  irriga- 
ble land  at  $50  an  acre. 

B — In  front  of  H.  J.  Crow  (now  Lomita  Park)  and  adjoining  the 
above,  and  in  vallcv  west  of  land  of  Beaudrv,  1300  acres,  eacli  acre 
rated  at  $13.00. 

C — Other  land,  about  6,400  acres,  to  be  rated  at  $1.30  per  acre. 
Seller  to  give  deeds  on  above  basis  at  above  rate.  All  mineral  and 
coal  rights  reserved. 

Dreyfus  reserved  to  himself  30  or  40  acres  along  the  railroad 
under  city  ditch  at  $60,  an  acre.  On  April  10,  1883.  Dreyfus  made 
another  transfer  U>  the  quartette  of  a  tract  containing  1.357.10  acres. 
This  was  "on  the  east  side  of  the  rancho";  also  another  tract  of 
368.35  acres,  and  yet  another  of  436.39,  this  last  being  the  hills  along 
the  west  side  of  \'erdugo  Road  reaching  over  westerly  into  the  Tro- 
pico  section.  The  consideration  for  the  above  was  $2,810.43.  The  low 
valuation  placed  upon  most  of  the  property  conveyed  by  Dreyfus 
as  above,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  decree  of  partition  had  allotted 
all  the  water  of  the  X'erdugo  canyon  stream  arising  in  the  "Cienega  on 
the  West  side  of  the  Verdugo  canyon"  to  the  naturally  irrigable 
lands  of  the  ranch  and  the  high  lands  not  so  capable  of  irrigation  from 
open  ditches  were  considered  practically  valueless.  These  hill  lands 
(or  more  correctly  "bench"'  lands)  were  offered  by  the  new  t)wners 
in  1883  at  a  price  of  from  $5  to  $12  per  acre  with  but  little  demand. 
The  price  for  the  other  lands,  fixed  bv  the  new  owners,  was  about 
$100  per  acre. 

On  May  28,  1883,  M.  L.  Wicks  acquired  from  \'alentine  Mand 
500  acres  "and  one  twentieth  of  the  water  of  Verdugo  Canyon."  This 
was  the  property  adjfiining  the  Thom  ranch  on  the  west  and  included 
the  former  property  of  Rafael  \'erdugo  de  Sepulveda,  a  daughter  of 
Julio  Verdugo,  with  the  old  homestead  known  in  later  years  as  "Casa 
Verdugo." 

This  property  w  as  later  sold  to  George  Baugh,  a  retired  Church 
of  England  clergvman,  who  in  turn  sold  it  to  J.  D.  Bliss,  who  built  the 
large  house  now  standing  on  the  i)roperty  and  sold  it  to  Mr.  James 
McMillan  of  the  Pacific  f^lectric  Company. 

On  August  4,  1883.  .Mr.  Wicks  acquired  from  J.  U.  Hunter,  30^? 
acres  adjoining  the  above  named  property  on  the  west,  described  as 
"being  the  west  half  of   (except  the  north  50  acres)  a  tract  of  land 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  57 

conveyed  by  A.  Briswalter  t<>  X^nlentiiie  Mand  Se]iteml)er  6.  1882." 
This  conveyance  included  the  "Sanchez  Place,"  a  well  improveil  j)rop- 
erty  on  which  was  another  adobe  residence  in  jjood  condition,  which 
was  occupied  for  several  years  thereafter  by  the  successive  owners 
of  the  property,  among  which  the  writer  remembers  the  names  of 
Elijah  Taylor  and  Mr.  Sinjjleton.  This  property  was  further  de- 
scribed as  being-  "bounded  on  the  north  and  west  by  the  pro()erty  of 
Beaudry  and  Burbank."     The  consideration  was  named  as  $9,000. 

September  6,  hSSo.  Watts,  Hodgkins  and  Wright  conveyed  to 
Wicks  a  three-fourths  interest  in  Lots  44  and  60  of  Watts  subdivision 
of  88.50  acres  with  water  rights.  Mr.  Wicks  had  a  proper  apprecia- 
tion of  the  value  of  \'erdugo  Canyon  water  rights  and  profited  there- 
by. He  acquired  some  acreage  to  which  no  water  rights  had  been  as- 
signed and  so  transferred  and  divided  his  accumulated  water  shares 
that  some  of  his  land  deeded  to  him  and  Iiis  associates  by  Dreyfus 
and  rated  as  belonging  to  Class  B.  \alued  at  $1,^.00  an  acre,  at  once 
moved  automatically  into  Class  A  at  $50  an  acre. 

It  was  the  latter  part  of  1883  when  the  influx  of  settlers  began 
to  move  into  the  valley.  One  of  the  first  transfers  b)-  Wicks  to  a 
pioneer  of  that  period  was  on  December  tenth  when  he  sold  a  large 
tract  of  land  to  Martha  F.  Morgan;  this  was  on  what  is  now  Colum- 
bus Avenue  in  the  vicinity  of  the  school  house.  Dr.  J.  S.  Morgan  was 
a  well  known  physician  in  Los  Angeles,  and  in  active  practice  until  a 
sliort  time  before  his  death  in  1921.  On  Decemlier  twelfth  Wright 
sold  ten  acres  to  Lewis  Riley,  in  the  Tropico  district.  Mr.  Riley  was 
one  of  the  active  "first  settlers"  of  that  time.  In  1884  among  transfers 
made  by  him,  were  those  to  Le  Maire  in  North  Glendale,  to  Duncan. 
Dubois,  Butterfield,  Darracolt,  Chandler,  Sanders.  Casterline  and 
Siddons.  He  also  sold  to  Col.  A.  S.  Moore  in  that  year,  a  tract  of  land 
at  the  west  end  of  what  is  now  known  as  Palmer  .Vvenue,  although 
originally  the  street  was  known  as  Moore  .Avenue.  Col.  Mc)ore  de- 
served more  than  the  naming  of  a  street  in  his  honor.  He  was  a 
wounded  veteran  of  the  Civil  War,  almost  incapacitated  by  his  in- 
juries physically,  but  mentally  active  and  jiublic  spirited.  He  was  the 
first  president  of  the  V'erdugo  Canyon  Water  Company,  and  its  prin- 
cipal organizer.    He  died  in  1920  at  Balboa  Beach. 

Land  was  being  sold  also  by  the  other  partners.  .Among  the 
transfers  of  1885,  were  those  from  Wright  to  W.  G.  Watson  and  to 
J.  E.  Fiske.  Mr.  \\'atson  secured  a  home  at  that  time  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  Verdugo  Road  and  Colorado  street.  Mr.  Fiske  bought  on 
Le.xington  Avenue,  west  of  Verdugo  Road,  afterwards  subdividing 
his  property.  He  was  a  teacher  of  vocal  music  and  is  remembered 
by  some  of  the  survivors  of  those  "early  settlers"  as  a  man  of  fine 
presence  and  a  singer  of  unusual  excellence. 

Wright  also  sold  al)out  this  time  a  ten-acre  tract  on  Windsor 
Road,  east  of  Adams  Street,  to  W.  G.  Shaw,  whose  wife  is  a  sister  of 
Mr.  J.  M.  Banker,  well  known  in  Cjlendale.  Mr.  Shaw  had  been  a 
member  of  the,  at  that  time,  well  known  firm  of  Willcox  and  Shaw, 
with  an  office  on  Spring  Street,  Los  .Angeles,  successful  dealers,  who 
were  about  the  first  in  their  line  of  business  ti>  offer  the  public  lots  in 


58  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Hollywood.  He  took  an  active  part  in  Glendale  affairs  and  after- 
wards moved  to  Denver  from  which  place  he  and  family  have  recently 
returned  to  California. 

The  initial  activity  of  the  four  men  referred  to  above,  resulted  in 
the  sale  of  other  lands  outside  the  acreage  covered  by  their  transac- 
tions. In  1880,  J.  C.  Sherer  had  bought  five  acres  on  \'erdugo  Road 
near  the  present  city's  southeastern  corner,  of  Santiago  Juvero  for 
fifty  dollars  an  acre.  A  short  time  afterwards  he  bought  an  additional 
12  acres  adjoining  his  first  purchase,  from  Cynthia  J.  Dunsmoor,  wife 
of  C.  H.  Dunsmoor  who  later  became  County  Clerk.  For  this  he 
paid  $100  per  acre.  In  the  spring  of  1883  he  moved  on  to  his  purchase 
and  about  the  same  time.  Mr.  S.  I.  Mayo  bought  and  occujiied  with  his 
family  a  twelve-acre  piece  adjoining  on  the  north  and  about  the  same 
time  Mr.  S.  C.  Hollenbeck  bought  and  moved  on  to  another  twelve- 
acre  tract  on  the  south. 

These  three  pieces  of  property  were  located  on  the  200-acre  tract 
of  land  deeded  back  to  Julio  Verdugo  by  A.  B.  Chapman,  when  the 
latter  acquired  Verdugo's  remaining  interest  in  the  ranch  when  it 
was  sold  to  satisfy  a  mortgage  in  1869.  The  original  Julio  Verdugo 
homestead  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  opposite  the  three  proper- 
ties named.  This  adobe  house  was  built  by  Julio's  wife  in  1835.  this 
portion  of  the  valle}'  being  known  at  that  time  and  up  to  the  time  of 
the  movement  in  real  estate  here  spoken  of,  as  Porto  Suelo. 

One  morning  in  1883  one  of  the  new  settlers  on  his  morning 
horseback  ride  into  Los  Angeles,  where  he  was  employed,  was  startled 
at  discovering  on  a  slight  hillside  along  the  X'erdugo  Road,  near  the 
present  crossing  of  the  Eagle  Rock  car  line,  the  Ixxly  of  a  Mexican. 
The  man  looked  so  natural  that  the  first  impression  of  the  traveler 
was  that  here  was  another  drunken  man  sleeping  oflf  the  effects  of  a 
night's  carousal.  An  examination  of  the  body  disclosed  the  fact  that 
the  man  was  dead.  Mounting  his  horse  again  the  ])asser-by  rode  on 
towards  Los  Angeles  and  soon  met  Dr.  Reini  Xadeau.  then  the  Coro- 
ner of  the  County,  hurrying  out  to  the  scene.  The  Coroner's  inquest 
developed  the  storj'.  The  dead  man  was  named  Garcia,  a  wood  cut- 
ter from  the  hills  who  had  on  the  daj-  previous  driven  his  team  into 
the  city  with  a  load  of  wood,  probably  grease  wood  roots,  for  sale. 
He  disposed  of  his  wood  and  was  in  possession  of  a  twenty-dollar 
piece  when  in  the  evening  he  on  returning  stopped  at  the  "Summit 
Saloon"  on  the  San  Fernando  Road.  There  he  met  a  neighbor,  one 
Martinez,  who  lived  in  \'erdugo  canyon  near  the  Judge  Ross  property. 
Garcia's  exhibition  of  his  gold  piece  aroused  desire  in  the  heart  of  his 
neighbor  to  possess  it  and  as  they  rode  homew  ard  in  the  dusk  of  the 
evening,  he  shot  Garcia  through  the  heart,  took  the  body  out  oi  the 
wagon,  placed  it  on  the  roadside  and  drove  off  with  the  dead  man's 
team  and  money.  The  case  against  Martinez  was  so  plain  that  he  was 
presently  convicted  and  was  soon  afterwards  hanged  in  the  old  jail 
yard  at  the  corner  of  Spring  and  Franklin  Streets,  .\nother  criminal, 
one  Silvas  was  hanged  at  the  same  time,  these  being  the  last  official 
hangings  that  took  place  in  Los  Angeles,  the  law  soon  afterwards 
being  changed   requiring  that  executions  be  at  the  penitentiary.     It 


GLENDALE  AND  ^^CINITY  59 

was  a  year  or  two  later  that  a  rage  crazed  man  named  Craig  killed  his 
wife  in  the  Hunter  ranch  house  near  the  river  and  then  hurrying 
into  Los  Angeles  went  to  the  home  of  her  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  D. 
Hunter,  and  shot  and  killed  both  of  them.  The  latter  shooting  took 
place  at  a  little  house  on  North  Broadway,  still  standing  near  the 
Hospital  of  the  University  of  Southern  California.  Craig  was  hanged 
at  San  Quentin.  In  1898,  Pedro  Lopez,  stepfather  of  J.  D.  Olivas, 
was  shot  and  killed  one  Sunday  morning  as  he  sat  in  a  chair  in  front 
of  his  house  on  Verdugo  Road,  by  an  assassin  who  rode  by  in  a  buggy 
and  emptied  the  contents  of  a  shotgun  into  the  old  man's  body.  What 
the  assumed  provocation  was,  is  not  now  recalled.  In  the  minds  of 
the  jurors,  it  was  imaginary  if  it  existed  at  all.  The  punishment 
meted  out  to  the  murderer,  one  Leiva,  was  a  sentence  of  fifteen  years 
in  the  penitentiary  from  which  he  was  released  some  years  ago. 

One  more  instance  of  crimes  of  violence  that  occurred  about  this 
period,  will  suffice  to  show  that  the  valley  was  not  as  peaceful  in  the 
early  eighties  as  might  be  inferred,  if  the  historian  passed  such  affairs 
by  and  spoke  only  of  the  growth  and  development  of  the  community. 
At  this  time  "Colonel"  G.  J.  Griffith  was  residing  at  his  homestead  on 
the  Los  Feliz  ranch  (Griffith  Park),  enjoying  the  lite  of  a  country 
gentleman,  keeping  a  pack  of  hounds  with  which  he  hunted  wild- 
cats in  the  hills,  and  coursed  jack  rabbits  through  where  Glendale 
now  stands.  Dr.  Sketchley  had  introduced  ostriches  to  Southern 
California  from  South  Africa,  and  associated  with  him  in  some  capac- 
ity was  a  man  named  I'eauchamp,  who  met  Col.  Griffith  and  suc- 
ceeded in  interesting  him  and  others  in  the  establishing  of  an  ostrich 
farm  at  Griffith  Park.  For  a  brief  time  the  venture  seemed  to  promise 
success,  a  narrow  gauge  railroad  was  built  connecting  the  "farm" 
with  Los  Angeles  and  for  a  season  the  place  was  a  popular  Sunday 
resort.  The  venture  collapsed,  however,  and  went  the  way  of  other 
"boom"  enterprises  along  about  1887. 

It  is  probable  that  his  business  reverses  affected  Beauchamp's 
mind  and  he  conceived  the  idea  that  Griffith  had  wronged  him  and  he 
took  measures  to  secure  revenge.  Being  familiar  with  the  daily  habits 
of  the  latter,  he  met  him  one  afternoon  as  he  was  driving  home  along 
Buena  Vista  Street,  near  the  Catholic  cemetery.  His  intented  vic- 
tim saw  him  in  time,  however,  to  make  a  quick  get-a-way,  escaping 
by  way  of  the  cemetery  fence.  Beauchamp  fired  one  barrel  of  his 
shotgun  at  Griffith's  retreating  figure,  doing  no  particular  damage. 
Whether  he  thought  his  object  accomplished  and  his  enemy  dead  or 
not,  will  never  be  known  to  mortal,  for  he  fired  the  other  barrel  at  his 
own  head  with  terribly  fatal  effect.  At  the  Coroner's  jury  it  was 
shown  that  Beauchamp  had  loaded  one  barrel  with  buckshot  and  the 
other  with  bird  shot  apparently  in  doubt  as  to  whether  he  wanted  to 
kill  or  only  slightly  injure  his  man.  At  any  rate  it  was  evident  that 
Griffith's  life  was  saved  by  the  fact  that  the  charge  of  bird  shot  was 
the  one  sent  after  him  instead  of  the  more  deadly  contents  of  the 
other  barrel. 

Although  the  greater  part  of  the  valley  was  covered  with  sage 
brush,  cactus  and  similar  growth,  there  were  here  and  there  cleared 


60  GLENDAIiE  AND  VICINITY 

spaces  of  several  acres  in  extent  on  which  crops  of  barley  were  grown, 
and  after  harvest  time  sheep  were  g^razing.  The  roads  were  a  mere 
succession  of  parallel  wagon  tracks  running  in  the  same  general  direc- 
tion, deep  dust  in  summer  and  mud  in  winter.  On  the  adobe  soil 
rank  crops  of  wild  mustard  grew,  the  golden  bloom  of  which  in  its 
season  gave  brightness  and  beauty  to  the  landscajjc.  Here  and  there 
where  conditions  were  favorable  there  were  clumps  (»f  live  oaks  and  in 
the  canyons  a  few  sycanu)re  trees  showed  the  ajiproach  of  moisture 
to  the  surface. 

In  Verdugo  Canyon,  the  a|)i)earance  of  nature  was  much  as  it  re- 
mains today  except  for  the  few  acres  of  vineyard,  which  the  Verdugos 
had  planted,  and  the  small  pieces  of  cultivated  ground  where  beans, 
melons  and  a  few  other  vegetables  were  grown. 

On  May  31.  1870,  .\.  H.  Chapman  deeded  to  O.  W.  Childs  a  one- 
eighth  interest  in  that  portion  of  the  ranch  which  he  had  acquired  at 
foreclosure  sale  and  in  a  subsequent  division  o(  their  interests,  Childs 
acquired  a  tract  in  the  choicest  section  of  the  ranch,  containing  371 
acres,  known  ever  since  and  of  record  as  the  "Childs  Tract."  The 
well  known  "Childs  Tract  line"  which  runs  straight  through  Glendale 
from  Windsor  Koad  northward,  was  the  eastern  boundary  of  this 
tract.  In  1876,  jirobably  because  of  financial  stringency,  he  disposed 
of  a  half  interest  in  it  to  I.  W.  Hellman,  the  well  known  banker.  In 
1882  this  property  was  subdivided  into  lots,  containing  each  ten 
acres,  except  where  in  the  westerly  tier  a  variation  from  this  rule  was 
necessary  owing  to  the  northeasterly  trend  of  the  w-esterly  line, 
which  was  the  easterly  boundary  of  Glendale  Avenue,  the  old  "Ca- 
mino  del  Astradero." 

This  tract  has  played  such  an  important  part  in  the  history  of 
Glendale  that  its  development  may  properly  be  taken  as  typical  of 
the  growth  of  the  surrounding  neighborhood  in  the  lively  days  of  the 
middle  eighties.  Chance  brought  together  in  Los  .Angeles  a  trio  of 
home  seekers  from  the  middle  west,  E.  T.  Byram,  B.  F.  Patterson 
and  G.  W.  Phelon.  Mr.  Phelon  was  the  first  to  pass  away  without 
seeing  anything  mure  than  the  opening  cha])ter  of  the  story  in  which 
he  played  an  important  part,  but  the  other  two  survived  him  several 
years,  each  being  an  active  particijjant  in  the  work  of  planting  or- 
chards and  vineyards  and  building  homes  and  later  in  bringing  into 
being  the  city  in  the  surprising  growth  of  which  both  played  imjjor- 
tant  parts  and  in  which  they  took  a  well  justified  pride. 

May  10,  1883,  Hellman  and  Childs  sold  to  the  three  men  named 
above  thirteen  pieces  of  land  in  the  tract  aggregating  123  acres,  with 
appurtenant  water  rights  in  the  water  of  Verdugo  Canj'on.  The  con- 
sideration named  was  $10,593.  On  May  2i.  1883,  Childs  and  Hellman 
sold  to  J.  C.  Ivins,  for  a  consideration  of  $6,800.  seven  other  lots  in 
the  tract  consisting  of  70  acres.  In  Uecember,  1886,  Ivins  sold  this 
piece  of  land  to  Byram,  Patterson  &  Miller  for  $15,300.  This  was  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  tract  and  was  subdivided  by  the  jjurchasers 
and  became  of  record  as  the  Byram,  i'atterson  &  Miller  tract. 

In  October,  1885,  L.  C.  Miller  bought  lr)ts  21  and  25,  at  this  time 
being  the  southeast  corner  of  .Adams  and  Colorado  streets,  building 


Byrain   Ktsidence   in    ly.2()  and   (above) 
in    1897. 


(■•LKXDAI.E  A\n  VICIMTV  M 

the  house  that  still  stands  and  occupying  it  with  his  family  until 
they  moved  away,  selling  to  R.  Williams  and  others. 

In  1883,  S.  E.  Chase  and  family  arrived  from  Rochester,  New 
York,  purchasing  from  Childs  and  Hellman  ten  acres  on  Glendale 
Avenue^  located  at  what  is  now  the  northeast  corner  of  Mai)le  street. 
This  property  afterwards  passed  into  the  possession  of  Wilmot  Par- 
cher,  the  first  "Mayor"  of  Glendale.  Mr.  Chase  was  one  of  the  active 
citizens  of  the  community,  serving  for  some  time  as  Road  overseer, 
of  the  district.  He  died  several  years  ago  leaving  a  widow  who  still 
survives,  and  two  sons,  one  of  whom  is  Dr.  R.  E.  Chase,  the  well 
known  phjsician,  the  other  Mr.  W.  E.  Chase  of  Los  Angeles. 

Another  property  owner  in  the  Childs  Tract  about  that  time  v>as 
Mr.  E.  B.  Rivers,  who  afterwards  established  the  well  known  Los 
Angeles  firm  of  Rivers  Brothers. 

.An  early  settler  on  the  cast  side  was  Mr.  (i.  W.  Benson  \vho  had 
a  number  of  acres  at  what  is  now  the  eastern  boundary  line  of  the 
city.  Among  other  improvements  made  by  Mr.  Benson  was  the 
sinking  of  one  of  the  first  successful  wells  in  the  valley. 

The  names  mentioned  heretofore  are  of  those  who  came  to  the 
\  alley,  of  which  the  original  Glendale  was  a  part,  in  1883  and  before. 
From  this  time  on  it  will  be  too  great  a  task  to  attempt  to  give  the 
names  of  the  pioneers,  as  they  came  too  rajjidl}'.  The  pioneers  of 
the  same  era,  who  settled  in  what  was  later  known  as  Tropico,  will 
be  found  mentioned  in  the  "Story  of  Tropico."  In  mentioning  the 
names  of  the  men  who  were  the  heads  of  the  families,  and  who  did 
so  much  to  start  the  settlement  on  the  career  of  development  which 
has  never  since  ceased,  the  historian  can  do  no  less  in  justice  to 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  these  pioneers,  than  to  say  that  in  every 
way  possible  they  gave  the  fullest  and  most  cheerful  support  to  the 
work  of  general  welfare  and  upbuilding.  It  was  indeed  principally 
through  their  initiative  and  intelligent  efforts  that  the  churches  were 
established  and  their  houses  were  thrown  open  to  public  entertain- 
ments for  the  benefit  oi  these  institutions,  which  were  in  the  days  of 
their  early  histor}-  (juite  a  burden,  though  willingly  borne,  upon  their 
small  membershi]). 

These  early  settlers  not  only  cleared  their  lands  of  underbrush 
and  the  wild  natural  growth  generally,  but  nearly  all  of  thein  had 
visions  of  a  pleasant  and  profitable  existence  supported  by  the  output 
of  vineyard  and  orchard,  and  the  vision  soon  caused  a  veritable  illus- 
tration of  that  poet's  dream  where  the  "desert  blossomed  as  the 
rose."  The  fifty  foot  lot  was  as  yet  unknown,  although  they  s.jon  be- 
came sufficiently  numerous  as  the  days  of  the  "boom"  ai)proached  and 
burst  upon  the  quiet  almosphere  oi  the  rural  communit}-.  Hut  during 
the  first  decade  of  the  settlement  nearly  every  home  was  surrounded 
by  orchards,  princijially  of  peach,  apricot  and  prune  with  a  lesser 
acreage  of  oranges  and  lemons,  the  latter  principally  along  the  foot 
hills.  But  the  raising  of  fruit  was  never  a  profitable  business  in  the 
valley  and  those  who  actually  made  mrmey  out  of  it  were  the  few  who 
not  only  produced  it  but  peddled  it  as  well,  quite  a  number  of  the 


64  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

growers  carrying  their  produce  to  the  early  morning  market  of  Los 
Angeles. 

There  were  a  few  large  fruit  drying  plants  in  the  valley,  the 
"plants"  consisting  of  a  large  number  of  wooden  trays,  six  by  three, 
and  a  box  for  sulphuring  the  fruit,  these  being  moved  from  place  to 
place  yearly.  The  output  of  dried  peaches,  prunes  and  apricots  was 
quite  large  for  several  years. 

In  1892,  '93  and  '94  a  co-operative  drying  concern  was  operated 
by  the  growers.  The  first  year  it  was  fairly  successful  but  this  was 
a  period  of  very  low  prices  all  over  the  country  and  the  last  year  of 
its  operation,  there  was  practically  no  market  for  the  fruit  and  the 
"Union"  went  out  of  business,  the  growers  failing  in  many  cases  to 
realize  anything  on  their  crops.  The  "drying  field"  for  this  concern 
was  on  the  south  side  of  Broadway  (then  Fourth  Street)  opposite  the 
present  location  of  the  City  Hall,  where  trays  were,  at  the  height  of 
the  season,  spread  over  two  or  three  acres  of  ground. 

A  report  of  this  organization  for  1894  shows  fruit  handled  as  fol- 
lows: Apricots,  green  fruit  228,606  pounds,  making  when  dried,  41,- 
809  pounds,  netting  the  grower  for  the  green  fruit  $8.80  a  ton.  Peaches 
325,112  pounds  green,  46,093  dried;  netting  the  grower  $5.57  per  ton 
for  the  green  fruit.  Prunes,  52,093  green,  19,793  dried ;  net  to  grower 
$16.37  per  ton. 

In  the  present  era  of  high  prices  it  is  difficult  to  realize  that  in 
the  years  mentioned  the  retail  price  of  dried  fruit  in  the  markets  of 
the  middle  west  was  from  five  to  seven  cents  a  pound. 

The  "Glendale  Improvement  Society"  is  alluded  to  elsewhere, 
but  we  find  much  more  in  its  brief  record  than  the  long  drawn  out 
but  successful  efiforts  to  secure  transportation  between  the  settlement 
and  Los  Angeles.  Among  the  membership  of  this  organization,  the 
following  names  appear  under  date  of  September,  1886:  E.  T.  Byram, 
R.  F.  Patterson,  L.  \V.  Riley,  I.  M.  Clippinger,  A.  S.  Hollingsworth, 
H.  N.  larvis,  H.  H.  Rubens,  J.  D.  Lindgren,  J.  W.  C.  Buchanan,  A.  A. 
Wolf,  H.  J.  Crow,  I.  D.  Hullis,  S.  A.  Ayres,  A.  S.  Gilbert,  J.  F.  Duns- 
moor,  J.  C.  Sherer'.  L.  C.  Miller,  W.  G.  Watson,  S.  I.  Mayo,  G.  W. 
Woodward,  G.  W.  Barber,  Mrs.  E.  M.  Bowler. 

Even  at  that  early  date  the  society  appointed  a  committee  to  see 
about  getting  the  name  "Mason"  changed  to  "Glendale." 

The  interests  of  the  fruit  growers  were  being  looked  after,  as  a 
ctimmittee  was  working  on  the  problem  of  ridding  the  apple  and  pear 
trees  of  the  "San  Jose  Scale,"  a  pestiferous  insect  which  threatened  to 
destroy  the  trees  named.  This  scale  is  not  yet  e.xtinct  in  California, 
but  it  has  been  generally  eradicated  by  the  use  of  sprays. 

On  June  6,  1887,  the  society  was  debating  the  proposition  of  A.  J. 
Wheeler  and  brother  to  establish  a  newspaper  in  the  valley,  a  resolu- 
tion being  adopted  unanimously  that  the  society  get  behind  the  proj- 
ect, pledging  the  enterprise  financial  support.  As  an  earnest  of  such 
support  the  sum  of  $80.00  was  pledged  on  the  spot.  Soon  after  this 
date  the  Glendale  Encinal  was  established  as  mentioned  in  the  chapter 
on  newspapers.  Work  was  also  done  by  the  society  in  planting  shade 
trees  along  the  streets,  the  committee  recommending  grevilla  and 


1  lie    (.Kiiilali.-    lloul    uiidir   Coiislructioii.   and    the   Same 
Building  MOW    (1922)   as   the  Glciidalc   Sanitarium. 


OLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  67 

pepper  trees,  many  of  them  being  planted.  Publicitj-  was  evidentlj' 
desired  and  the  value  of  advertising-  appreciated,  for  the  society  is 
stated  to  have  received  a  bill  from  the  Los  Angeles  Herald  as  "balance 
due  for  write-up  of  the  valley." 

In  February,  1888.  the  question  of  securing  a  daily  mail  was  a 
live  issue,  the  service  at  that  time  being  only  tri-weekly;  it  was  some 
time  before  this  agitation  produced  results,  as  in  that  case  and  many 
others  at  that  time  it  was  necessary  to  raise  a  sum  of  money  before 
the  object  desired  was  secured.  By  this  time  other  names,  some  of 
which  are  still  familiar  to  Glendale  people,  are  found  on  the  member- 
ship roll:  E.  D.  Goode,  H.  H.  Davenport,  E.  V.  Williams,  J.  M. 
Banker,  G.  F.  Button  and  N.  C.  Burch. 

Even  at  that  time  the  idea  of  securing  a  public  park  was  dis- 
cussed but  no  results  appear.  By  this  time  the  "boom"  was  on  in 
Glendale.  In  1887.  Messrs.  Ross.  Thorn,  Ward.  Ryram.  Patterson  and 
Crow  created  the  "Town  of  Glendale,"  by  pooling  their  lands  and 
plotting  the  same.  The  "Town"  extended  to  First  Street  (Lexington) 
on  the  north,  the  Childs  Tract  on  the  east,  and  east  of  Glendale 
Avenue  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  Fifth  (Harvard)  Street;  cross- 
ing the  avenue  it  took  in  the  Crow  property  (Lomita  Park),  the 
southerly  line  of  which  extended  from  about  two  hundred  feet  south 
of  the  present  Maple  street  south  westerly  to  Central  Avenue  which 
was  the  western  boundary. 

In  the  City  Hall  of  Glendale  hangs  one  of  the  maps  of  the  town 
site.  It  is  a  lithographed  production  in  colors  and  is  ornamented  by 
cuts  of  the  three  comparatively  new  houses  that  were  than  to  be 
seen  on  Crow's  portion  of  the  plot.  The  owner  of  the  land  had  do- 
nated the  lots  on  condition  that  the  recipients  of  the  deeds  build  the 
houses.  On  the  margin  of  the  map  is  the  legend  that  informs  the 
reader  that  Glendale  is  in  one  of  the  finest  sections  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, only  six  and  a  half  miles  from  the  Court  House  (in  Los  An- 
geles). It  further  asserts  that  a  fine  hotel  is  to  be  erected  near  the 
center  of  the  plot  at  once  and  that  the  Los  Angeles  and  Glendale  Rail- 
road will  be  completed  and  running  trains  in  six  months.  "Two 
stages  run  daily  between  the  tract  and  the  office  of  Ben  Ward,  No.  4 
Court  Street." 

Both  of  these  promises  were  fulfilled  although  their  enterprise 
seriously  embarrassed  the  men  back  of  it  and  sent  H.  J.  Crow  into 
bankruptcy,  from  which  he  never  recovered  either  financially  or  phys- 
ically and  he  passed  away  two  or  three  years  later. 

The  hotel  was  built  by  Messrs.  Thorn,  Ross  and  Crow  at  a  cost 
of  $60,000.  This  sum  would  not  serve  to  construct  and  equip  much  of 
a  building  at  present  prices,  but  in  1887,  it  was  enough  to  erect  a 
structure  that  was  commodious  and  ornate  as  well.  It  was  well  fur- 
nished and  that  it  was  not  a  successful  venture  was  in  no  way  the 
fault  of  its  projectors,  but  a  natural  result  of  the  i)assing  of  the 
"boom"  which  occurred  very  shortly  after  its  completion  and  left  in 
its  wake  the  wrecks  of  many  finished  and  a  lesser  number  of  uncom- 
pleted  edifices  of  a  similar  character  all  over  Southern  California. 


68  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

When  it  was  sold  finally,  about  1905,  the  owners  received  salvage 
from  the  wreck  of  their  venture,  about  $4,000  each. 

The  Crow  property  of  200  acres  passed  into  the  hands  of  O.  S. 
Bond  under  foreclosures,  the  southern  half  of  it  being  sold  by  him  to 
H.  C.  Goodell,  including  nearly  all  the  improvements,  consisting  of 
orchards  and  buildings.  The  northern  half  including  the  hotel  build- 
ing and  about  400  lots,  was  sold  to  J.  A.  Merrill  at  a  price  of  about 
forty  dollars  per  lot. 

The  center  of  Glendale  at  this  time  was  at  the  corner  of  Glendale 
Avenue  and  Third  Street  (now  Wilson).  Here  on  the  southwest 
corner  was  the  two-storj^  frame  building  built  by  George  F.  Dutton, 
the  upper  story  being  used  as  a  public  hall  when  occasion  demanded ; 
the  lower  story  being  occupied  by  the  general  merchandise  store  and 
post-ofifice,  conducted  by  Geortje  F.  Dutton,  who  was  the  postmaster. 
Dutton  was  succeeded  by  Elias  Ayers  in  1892,  to  whom  he  sold 
building  and  business. 

The  Glendale  Hotel  building  had  been  turned  into  a  seminary, 
and  the  following  brief  sketch  of  that  institution,  fits  in  here. 

St.  Hilda's  Hall,  a  "School  for  Girls,"  opened  in  the  Glendale 
Hotel  building  February  3,  1889,  under  the  rectorship  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Haskins,  who  acted  as  rector  and  teacher  of  Ancient  History  and  the 
Bible.  In  the  latter  part  of  1890,  or  early  in  1891,  he  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  John  D.  Easter,  who  became  a  resident  of  Glendale  and  Rec- 
tor of  St.  Marks  church.  The  school  opened  with  about  thirty  pupils 
and  three  resident  teachers;  a  number  of  other  instructors  who  taught 
special  subjects  came  out  from  Los  Angeles  on  certain  days. 

Miss  Ruth  Ryram  who  was  a  pupil  at  St.  Hilda's  kindly  furnished 
the  writer  of  this  history  with  a  copj^  of  the  "Register"  of  the  school 
for  1893-94.  At  that  time  Miss  K.  V.  Darling  was  the  principal.  The 
"Corps  of  Teachers"  as  published  in  this  "Register"  is  an  impressive 
one,  indicating  that  the  institution  was  prepared  to  teach  the  pupils 
everything  that  was  deemed  necessary  to  equip  the  young  ladies  for 
high  and  useful  stations  in  life.  The  frontispiece  of  the  "Register"  is 
an  excellent  picture  of  the  seminary  building  as  it  then  appeared  sur- 
rounded by  trees  and  shrubbery  evidently  only  two  or  three  years  old. 

The  school  was  discontinued  after  having  been  conducted  about 
four  years  by  the  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Southern  California,  not  hav- 
ing been  a  financial  success.  It  was,  however,  a  valuable  asset  to  the 
community  in  which  it  was  located,  being  a  leading  influence  in  shap- 
ing the  moral,  religious  and  social  life  of  the  people.  Rev.  John  D. 
Easter  while  connected  with  the  institution  was  active  in  local  aflfairs 
and  being  a  man  of  high  educational  endowments,  and  a  public 
speaker  of  unusual  ability,  achieved  general  popularity. 

The  Hotel  building,  which  after  being  vacated  as  a  seminary,  re- 
mained in  the  possession  of  a  keeper.  Mr.  R.  G.  Doyle,  who  occupied 
it  with  his  family,  remained  unused  until  it  passed  into  the  possession 
of  the  Battle  Creek  people  in  1905.  This  building  and  about  five  acres 
of  ground  had  been  bought  by  J.  A.  Merrill,  in  connection  with  other 
property  acquired  at  the  same  time  as  told  elsewhere ;  he  sold  it  to 


GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY  6!) 

L.  C.  Brand  for  $10,000  cash  and  Brand  sold  it  to  the  Battle  Creek 
institute  for  $12,000. 

There  were  no  other  improvements  of  anj"  consequence  in  the 
neighborhood  of  what  is  now  Broadway  and  Glendale  Avenue.  A 
small  frame  building  stood  on  the  southwest  corner  which  had  been 
used  as  a  depot  and  real  estate  office  in  the  latter  days  of  the  "boom" 
(1887),  but  it  remained  vacant  from  that  time  until  removed. 

The  northwest  corner  of  Broadway  and  Glendale  Avenue,  as  now 
known  was  a  hole  in  the  ground,  having  at  one  time  been  used  for  a 
reservoir  to  supply  the  Crow  ranch.  That  corner  was  bought  by 
John  Mulder  in  1905,  who  secured  the  old  school  house  on  Broadway 
when  it  was  sold  to  make  way  for  a  new  structure,  he  paying  $550  for 
the  same,  and  moving  it  on  to  his  lot.  where  it  was  built  over  for 
store  purposes.  Mulder  conducted  a  pool  room  there  for  some  time, 
until  put  out  of  business,  after  which  it  was  used  as  a  drug  store;  the 
portion  on  Glendale  Avenue  above  the  corner  being  occupied  in  June, 
L905,  by  the  Bank  of  Glendale  for  a  few  months  until  that  institution 
moved  to  the  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue  and  Wilson.  After  being 
vacant  for  about  a  3'ear  that  building  became  the  home  of  the  Glendale 
News  from  1907  until  1913. 

The  new  century  opened  upon  Glendale  to  find  it  a  community  of 
homes,  the  most  of  which  were  set  in  the  midst  of  orchards  and  shrub- 
bery, inhabited  by  a  people  who.  while  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  life 
in  the  country,  were  progressive  in  spirit  and  having  the  most  en- 
thusiastic faith  in  the  future  importance  of  their  town,  were  alive  to 
the  necessity  of  making  a  constant  eiTort  to  advertise  its  merits  to  the 
world,  and  to  build  a  foundation  that  might  well  serve  the  require- 
ments of  the  superstructure  in  the  years  to  come. 

There  has  rarely  been  a  period  in  Glendale's  existence  when  an 
improvement  society,  board  of  trade  or  chamber  of  commerce  was  not 
functioning,  although  it  often  happened  that  there  were  scarcely 
enough  members  in  attendence  at  the  meetings  to  form  a  quorum. 
One  of  these  organizations  came  into  being  on  May  21.  1902,  when 
about  twenty  people  met  to  form  an  improvement  association. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt,  who  was 
elected  chairman,  Mr.  E.  D.  Goode,  secretary.  Mr.  J.  A.  Merrill,  of 
Highland  Park,  who  had  recently  become  the  owner  of  the  hotel  and 
a  large  number  of  lots  around  that  institution,  was  the  principal 
speaker  at  the  meeting.  The  society  met  again  May  twenty-fourth  to 
effect  a  permanent  organization,  the  place  of  meeting  being  the  hotel 
building.  Thirty-four  members  signed  the  roll.  Dr.  Hunt  was 
elected  permanent  chairman  and  E.  D.  Goode  permanent  secretary. 
J.  F.  Mclntyre  was  elected  treasurer. 

Mr.  Mclntyre  was  at  that  time  the  proprietor  of  the  Lumber  yard 
on  Glendale  Avenue  now  conducted  by  the  Litchfield  Lumber  Com- 
pany. He  sold  that  business  in  1905  to  E.  W.  Pack  who  carried  on 
the  business  for  several  years  until  he  sold  out  to  the  present  owners. 

On  May  24.  1902.  the  Improvement  .'\ssociation  organized  per- 
manently with  thirty-four  members.    It  seems  appropriate  to  put  into 


70  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

a  more  or  less  permanent  record  the  names  of  these  members  as  fol- 
lows: D.  W.  Hunt.  F.  G.  Taylor.  ].  W.  Penn,  Thos.  R.  Warren,  G.  M. 
Penn.  Thos.  Gillette,  C.  D.  Thorn,  Mrs.  D.  W.  Hunt,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
E.  D.  Goode,  Mrs.  Eva  Gilson,  J.  W.  Merrill,  R.  D.  List,  Edgar  Lea- 
vitt,  Mrs.  B.  M.  Fiske,  Mrs.  L.  E.  Peck,  W.  H.  Peck,  E.  J.  Vavvter, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  W.  Pack.  F.  W.  Mclntyre,  Mrs.  Alice  Avers,  H.  C. 
Goodell.  Miss  Cora  Goodell.  Mrs.  A.  B.  Geisler,  W.  H.  Witham,  E.  T. 
Byram,  R.  M.  Byram,  E.  W.  Smith,  F.  M.  Beers.  Mrs.  M.  S.  Duncan, 
P.  W.  Parker,  Miss  Judson  Harris,  Prosser  Penn,  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  J.  L. 
Whitaker,  Elias  Ayers,  Mrs.  Adeline  S.  Wing,  J.  C.  Sherer. 

At  the  meeting  of  June  twenty-fourth,  Dr.  Hunt  is  reported  as 
speaking  at  length  about  the  donation  by  the  people  of  the  sum  of 
$750.00  for  the  purchase  of  a  site  for  the  High  School.  He  stated  that 
it  was  proposed  to  secure  two  and  a  half  acres  of  land  (now  the  south- 
east corner  of  Brand  and  Broadway)  to  be  donated  to  the  High  School 
district.  He  further  stated  that  six  citizens  had  guaranteed  this  sum 
and  called  on  the  citizens  to  contribute. 

At  this  meeting  a  transportation  committee  was  appointed,  "to 
secure  better  facilities  for  getting  in  and  out  of  the  city."  Mr.  Elias 
Ayers  passes  into  history  as  the  father  of  the  Glendale  Fire  depart- 
ment, by  reason  of  the  fact  that  at  that  time  he  suggested  the  secur- 
ing of  fire  fighting  apparatus  and  the  laying  of  water  mains  for  com- 
mon protection.  At  the  meeting  of  July  eighth  a  communication  was 
read  from  the  Tropico  Improvement  .Association,  inviting  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Glendale  society  to  attend  the  anniversary  meeting  of  the 
Tropico  organization  on  July  fourteenth  next  to  participate  in  the 
second  anniversary  of  the  formation  of  that  society. 

It  is  told  elsewhere,  in  the  chapter  on  "Transportation,"  how 
these  two  organizations  worked  together  in  securing  the  right  of  way 
and  promoting  the  building  of  the  Pacific  Electric  railway  into  Trop- 
ico and  Glendale.  .An  effort  was  made  to  form  a  union  of  the  two 
societies,  but  they  could  not  agree  to  do  anything  more  than  work 
harmoniously  and  separately. 

Mrs.  Edgar  W.  Pack  suceeded  Mr.  Goode  as  secretary  in  August, 
the  former  having  resigned.  The  record  discloses  the  fact  that  the 
shortage  of  houses  at  this  time,  was  felt  to  be  a  serious  drawback 
to  the  upbuilding  of  the  settlement.  The  service  given  by  the  Salt 
Lake  Railway  company  was  very  unsatisfactory  and  the  transporta- 
tion committee  was  earnestly  at  work  but  without  success  in  trying  to 
secure  some  improvement.  In  October,  1902,  Mrs.  Pack  tendered  her 
resignation  as  secretary  on  account  of  intended  removal  from  Glen- 
dale, Mr.  W.  P.  Penn  being  her  successor. 

At  the  meeting  of  November  eleventh  two  names  were  added  to 
the  membership  roll  of  individuals  who  became  rather  conspicuously 
identified  with  the  history  of  the  community,  Mr.  G.  U.  Moyse  and 
Mr.  Theodore  D.  Kanouse. 

The  name  of  Mr.  Lorbeer,  principal  of  the  public  schools,  appears 
frequently  in  the  records  of  the  society  as  an  active  committee 
worker.  The  records  disclose  the  fact  that  the  value  of  advertising 
was  fully  appreciated,  as  from  time  to  time  diflFerent  persons  were  ap- 


GLENDAT.E  AND  VICINITY  71 

pointed  as  correspondents  for  the  Los  Angeles  newspapers,  which 
seem  to  have  been  at  that  time  as  chary  of  giving-  anything  of  the 
kind  free,  as  they  have  been  known  to  be  since. 

The  receipt  of  a  quaint  communication  from  George  Rice  and 
Son,  well  known  printers  of  Los  Angeles,  is  noted,  calling  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  firm  had  never  been  paid  for  some  folders  printed 
for  a  defunct  "Board  of  Trade,"  but  soliciting  the  patronage  of  the 
then  active  organization  along  similar  lines. 

On  March  5.  1903.  the  society  received  a  visit  from  delegates  of 
the  Tropico  Improvement  Society,  consisting  of  Miss  Cora  R.  Hick- 
man and  Messrs.  Imler  and  Eshelman.  who  "were  welcomed  by  Mr. 
Kanouse  in  one  of  his  happy  speeches."  Under  the  management  of 
the  association  there  was  held  on  April  ninth  and  tenth  of  this  year  a 
two  day  session  of  the  "Farmer's  Institute,"  the  sessions  I)eing  held 
in  the  G.  A.  R.  hall  on  Glendale  .Avenue,  Tropico. 

The  controlling  spirit  of  these  meetings  was  Professor  Cook  of 
Claremont  College,  a  very  interesting  and  capable  man,  who  after- 
wards became  the  Chief  of  the  Horticultural  department  of  the  state. 
-As  related  in  the  chapter  on  "Transportation."  the  society  about  this 
time  took  up  the  electric  railway  proposition,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Tropico  organization,  pushing  the  same  ultimately  to  a  successful 
conclusion. 

At  the  meeting  of  October  first  it  was  reported  that  the  Tropico 
association  had  proposed  and  endorsed  the  name  of  Brand  Boulevard 
for  the  new  thoroughfare  along  the  tracks  of  the  electric  road.  The 
Glendale  society  at  a  later  meeting  endorsed  this  action. 

In  January,  1904.  Mrs.  Lillian  S.  Wells  was  appointed  secretary 
of  the  association,  Mr.  Penn  having  resigned.  During  the  many  years 
of  her  residence  in  Glendale,  Mrs.  Wells,  of  Canyon  Crest,  was  one  of 
the  most  progressive  workers  in  the  growing  community,  being  at 
the  front  in  every  campaign  for  civic  betterment,  giving  much  of  her 
time,  and  best  efforts,  to  the  building  up  of  the  public  library  and 
similar  objects.  A  prominent  memlier  of  the  organization  at  this  time 
was  Mr.  Ernest  Braunton,  who  had  lately  come  into  the  valley  and 
while  residing  there  was  active  in  its  public  enterprises. 

In  May,  1904,  the  association  made  a  contract  with  George  K. 
Byram  to  set  shade  trees  along  Fourth  (Broadway)  Street  from  Glen- 
dale Avenue  to  Central.  The  public  school  situation  was  being  in- 
vestigated and  it  was  recommended  that  a  bond  issue  be  presented  to 
the  people  asking  for  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  df)llars  to  erect  a  new 
school  building  in  place  of  the  old  one  on  Broadway.  The  bond  issue 
was  authorized  and  the  building  was  erected  which  stood  on  the 
Broadway  site  until  1920,  when  the  present  structure  was  built. 

On  June  3,  1904,  it  was  announced  that  Mr.  L.  C.  Brand  had 
donated  a  lot  on  "Fourth  street  west  of  Central  Avenue"  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  building  and  its  occupancy  by  the  Home  Telephone 
Company.  The  telephone  company  was  located  there  for  a  consider- 
able time,  the  location  being,  however,  considered  quite  out  of  town. 
as  indeed  the  lone  building  presented  a  solitary  appearance. 

The  society  had  been  working  for  several  weeks  on  a  ten  thou- 


72  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

sand  edition  of  a  folder  descriptive  of  Glendale,  at  a  cost  of  $173.00, 
and  the  same  were  reported  ready  for  delivery  in  August,  two  thou- 
sand copies  being  sent  to  the  World's  Fair  at  St.  Louis.  At  the  meet- 
ing of  September  second  it  was  announced  that  the  Hotel  property 
had  been  sold  to  the  Battle  Creek  people  and  a  resolution  was 
adopted  welcoming  the  new  institution.  On  September  ninth  a  Mr. 
Bourland  was  present  at  the  regular  meeting  and  announced  his  in- 
tention to  establish  a  newspaper  in  the  town.  No  action  appears  to 
have  been  taken. 

In  February,  1905,  Mr.  George  B.  Woodberry  succeeded  Mrs. 
Wells  as  Secretary  of  the  association.  In  March,  of  1905,  the  subject 
of  storm  water  was  frequently  up  for  discussion.  During  that  season 
the  Verdugo  Canyon  stream  had  overflowed  its  banks  and  ran  down 
Brand  Boulevard  doing  some  damage  to  the  streets.  Flood  water 
from  Sycamore  Canyon  had  also  escaped  from  its  channel  and  did 
some  slight  damage  on  the  east  side  of  the  settlement.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  it  was  resolved  to  petition  the  supervisors  to  establish 
a  storm  water  district  and  that  body  went  so  far  as  to  start  proceed- 
ings, which  were  never  completed. 

At  meeting  of  January  19,  1906,  Mr.  R.  A.  Blackburn  was  elected 
secretary  to  succeed  Mr.  G.  B.  \\'oodberry.  For  the  previous  several 
months  the  society  had  been  wrestling  with  the  incorporation  of  the 
settlement  into  a  "City,"  and  now  that  this  matter  had  been  brought 
to  a  successful  issue  by  the  election  of  February  seventh,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  association  evidently  were  willing  and  glad  of  an  excuse 
to  rest  upon  the  record  made  and  the  work  accomplished,  and  the 
Glendale  Improvement  Association  after  its  meeting  of  February  16, 
1906,  having  accomplished  its  work,  quietly  ceased  to  exist,  after  the 
custom  of  its  kind. 

At  this  time,  just  previous  to  the  incorporation  of  the  city,  Glen- 
dale had  two  banks,  one  on  the  corner  of  Third  Street  and  Glendale 
Avenue  and  the  other  on  Brand  Boulevard  north  of  Fourth  Street. 
The  brick  two-story  building  on  Brand  Boulevard,  in  which  the  bank 
was  located,  was  known  as  the  Masonic  Hall  building,  as  the  Masons 
occupied  the  second  story  for  a  lodge  room  with  a  few  small  offices 
which  they  rented  to  physicians.  The  building  had  been  erected  by 
a  corporation  formed  by  a  few  local  people,  but  had  been  transferred 
to  Mr.  Brand  a  short  time  before  the  bank  opened  in  1905.  This  was 
the  only  brick  business  block  in  the  town.  The  High  School  was  a 
two-story  frame  building  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Brand  and 
Fourth  Streets. 

There  was  one  important  section  of  the  valley  which  through  all 
the  formative  years  of  the  City  of  Glendale  was  unwilling  to  acknowl- 
edge itself  as  a  part  of  either  Glendale  or  Tropico,  but  the  most  of 
which  territory  has  by  the  logic  of  events  finally  become  a  part  of 
Glendale;  this  was  the  territory  along  the  base  of  the  Verdugo  moun- 
tain looking  down  over  the  growing  settlement  spreading  over  the 
valley  below.  The  more  easterly  portion  found  a  local  name  by 
adopting  that  which  described  the  old  adobe  residence  near  the  head 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  75 

of  Brand  Boulevard,  "Casa  Verdugo,'"  although  with  innre  truth  to 
history  it  might  be  called  "Casa  Sepulveda." 

The  westerly  portion  along  Kenneth  Road  was  in  general  terms 
alluded  to  as  "North  Glendale,"  although  giving  no  evidence  of  taking 
any  particular  pride  in  that  designation. 

During  his  short  term  as  minister  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
about  1895.  Rev.  Eugene  R.  Mills,  was  residing  in  a  two-story  house 
which  he  had  built  on  top  of  the  hill,  now  occupied  by  the  beautiful 
home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mattison  B.  Jones. 

About  1887,  Mr.  E.  J.  Valentine  moved  into  this  section  occupy- 
ing the  property  on  which  Mrs.  Valentine  still  resides.  A.  P.  Kerchoff 
had  acreage  on  West  Broadway  and  took  part  in  neighborhood  mat- 
ters, particularly  in  regard  to  the  water  question,  which  was  in  those 
times  always  a  live  issue. 

Mr.  Henr}'  Anderson,  whose  acreage  was  on  the  corner  of  Pacific 
and  Kenneth  was  active  in  affairs  of  the  neighborhood  being  manager 
of  the  Glendale  Fruit  Growers  Union,  elsewhere  spoken  of  for  one 
season.  He  afterwards  was  one  of  the  vice  presidents  of  the  Mer- 
chants National  Bank  in  Los  Angeles. 

Mr.  David  Buesser  had  ten  acres  on  the  corner  of  Pacific  and 
Sixth  street.  Mr.  Buesser  claims  to  have  planted  the  first  orchard 
of  navel  orange  trees  in  the  valley.  Previous  to  that  time  all  of  the 
orange  trees  planted  were  seedlings.  Up  towards  Burbank  Mr.  J.  F. 
Truman  had  in  the  latter  eighties  located  on  the  acreage  which  he 
still  resides  on  although  some  of  it  has  been  sacrificed  to  supply  the 
demand  for  "town  lots." 

In  1903.  Mr.  D.  E.  Fuller  settled  on  ten  acres  at  the  head  of  Cen- 
tral Avenue  and  became  active  in  local  matters.  Mr.  Fuller  still 
resides  on  the  acreage  which  has  also  been  reduced  to  supply  the 
demands  of  other  home  builders. 

In  1900.  the  Bliss  brothers  bought  out  George  Baugh's  acreage. 
adjoining  the  western  boundary  of  the  C.  E.  Thom  property,  and 
erected  the  two-story  house  that  was  later  occupied  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Mc- 
Millan when  he  acquired  the  property. 

About  1905,  Mr.  C.  M.  Walton  came  to  Casa  Verdugo.  locating  on 
Central  Avenue.  Mr.  Walton  entered  upon  a  development  pro- 
gram that  added  several  residences  to  that  neighborhood  and  in  the 
meantime  built  up  a  large  business  in  raising  fancy  poultry,  being 
followed  in  that  line,  on  a  less  ambitious  scale  by  many  of  his  neigh- 
bors. 

About  the  same  time  Mr.  Albert  Dow  arrived  and  purchasing 
the  property  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Central  Avenue  and  Kenneth 
Road,  now  owned  by  Mr.  David  Black,  made  many  improvements 
that  added  greatly  to  the  natural  attractiveness  of  the  section. 

Dr.  S.  S.  Black  and  Mr.  W.  E.  Reynolds  were  also  early  settlers 
on  Kenneth  Road,  and  their  acreage  is  now  being  subdivided. 

Mr.  Dan  Campbell  came  into  the  valley  with  the  advent  of  the 
Pacific  Electric  Railway  and  has  ever  since  been  an  active  figure  in 
the  building  up  of  the  community,  building  up  on  a  sightly  elevation 


76  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

at  the  base  of  the  mountain  the  beautiful  home  in  which  he  and  his 
family  still  reside. 

Mr.  Arthur  Campbell  lives  near  by.  He  was  the  active  manager 
of  the  first  telephone  company  in  Glendale,  and  also  the  superinten- 
dent of  the  Consolidated  Water  Company  before  it  passed  under  the 
control  of  the  City  of  Glendale. 

One  of  the  early  settlers,  who  came  in  about  twenty-five  years 
ago,  was  Mr.  E.  H.  Sanders,  who  planted  an  orchard  and  otherwise 
improved  his  twenty-acre  place  on  Kenneth  Road  and  sold  to  John 
Brockman. 

Mr.  Alex  Mitchell  came  in  about  the  same  time  and  has  been 
active  in  building  up  that  section,  as  an  active  dealer  in  real  estate  and 
as  a  worker  for  all  objects  calculated  to  advance  the  interests  of  the 
community. 

One  of  the  more  recent  settlers  in  this  section  is  Mr.  Charles  H. 
Toll,  the  well  known  banker,  whose  beautiful  home  is  one  of  the  at- 
tractive features  of  Kenneth  Road. 

At  the  head  of  Grand  View  Avenue  on  Glendale's  westerly 
boundary  is  the  splendid  home  of  Mr.  L.  C.  Brand,  who  for  the  past 
fifteen  or  more  years  has  been  a  resident  there,  having  built  up  and 
developed  the  beautiful  property  on  the  base  of  Mount  V'erdugo  Ifiok- 
ing  down  over  the  valley  which  owes  much  of  its  development  to  the 
fact  that,  with  Mr.  H.  E.  Huntington,  Mr.  Brand  was  responsible  for 
the  bringing  of  the  electric  railroad  to  Glendale. 

Mr.  Brand's  property  is  still  outside  the  Glendale  city  limits,  but 
during  the  past  five  years  almost  all  of  this  territory  has  been  annexed 
to  the  city  and  is  at  present  reaping  its  reward  for  its  enterprise  and 
the  foresight  of  its  pioneers.  Among  the  latter,  should  be  mentioned 
Mr.  M.  D.  Learned,  owner  of  considerable  acreage  which  he  cultivated 
with  success  for  several  years  before  the  city  encroached  upon  it. 
Mr.  Learned  has  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  civic  activities  of  re- 
cent years  which  preceded  and  accompanied  the  marvelous  develop- 
ment of  this  section. 

This  is  the  story  of  the  era  in  which  the  sage  brush  gave  way  to 
orchards  and  homes.  The  conditions  which  the  writer  has  attempted 
to  picture  above,  seem  in  the  retrospect  to  be  much  further  removed 
from  the  present  than  they  are  in  fact,  so  great  is  the  contrast. 

But  who  shall  say  that  the  time  of  i)ioneering.  the  endurance  of 
hardships,  through  lack  of  quick  transportation  and  all  that  this  im- 
plies, and  the  absence  of  the  features  of  city  life  which  now  seem  in- 
dispensable, were  things  that  constituted  failure  in  the  happier  ele- 
ments of  living. 

There  was  a  neighborliness  that  seems  to  be  missing  in  the  pres- 
ent day  swift  movement  of  life's  expanding  ])rogram ;  there  was  a 
neighborly  kindness  that  finds  no  compensation  in  the  service  ren- 
dered by  concentrated  efficiency  through  organized  public  machinerj'. 
But  it  bred  the  "divine  discontent"  that  calls  for  a  movement  for- 
ward, and  so  it  passed. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  STORY  OF  TROPICO 

NO  DIVISION  IN  EARLY  DAYS  OF  THE  SETTLEMENT.  NAME  OF 
GLENDALE  CHOSEN  AT  PUBLIC  MEETING.  GROWTH  BRINGS  DIVI- 
SION OF  COMMUNITY.  S.  P.  COMPANY  ESTABLISHES  DEPOT  AND 
CALLS  IT  "TROPICO."  BUSINESS  CONCERNS  ESTABLISHED.  STRAW- 
BERRY CULTURE.  ROLL  CALL  OF  THE  PIONEERS.  AGITATION  FOR 
CONSOLIDATION  AND  ANNEXATION.  CITY  OF  TROPICO  COMES 
INTO  BEING.  NUMEROUS  ELECTIONS.  CONSOLIDATED  WITH 
GLENDALE. 

Since  November.  1917,  Tropico  has  been  officially  a  part  of  Glen- 
dale;  for  six  years  immediately  precedinjf  it  was  an  independent 
municipality,  but  always  the  two  communities  have  been  naturally 
one  geographically  and  by  common  interests,  divided  only  by  a  line 
that  was  mostly  imaginarj'. 

Both  sections  had  a  common  origin,  Glendale  Avenue  being  one 
of  the  common  thoroughfares  running  through  and  connecting  the 
two  places,  Tropico  being  on  both  sides  of  the  southerly  extremity  of 
that  road,  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway 
tracks. 

The  early  history  of  Glendale  is  the  early  history  of  Tropico,  for 
in  1883  when  the  development  of  this  portion  of  the  San  Fernando 
Valley  begun,  neither  place  had  a  local  habitation  and  a  name.  Before 
the  subdivision  of  the  Rancho  San  Rafael  by  Wright,  Wicks,  Hodg- 
kins  and  Watts  in  1883,  there  were  improved  ranches  along  the  foot- 
hills on  the  north  where  Thorn  anfl  Ross  had  jilanted  their  orchards 
along  about  1870  with  the  Sanchez  and  Sepulveda  places  adjoining 
on  the  west,  dating  a  little  further  back.  To  the  south  along  the  Los 
Angeles  river  was  the  Ranclio  Santa  Eulalia  belonging  to  W.  C.  B. 
Richardson,  something  over  700  acres,  acquired  bj'  Richardson  of 
Samuel  M.  Heath  in  1868  and  adjacent  to  this  property  in  tiie  early 
'80's  were  the  homes  of  Robert  Devine,  J.  W.  Cook,  James  Hodgson, 
Sheriff  H.  M.  Mitchell  and  a  few  others.  In  the  interval  between 
these  two  extremes  was  the  ranch  of  H,  J.  Crow,  who  acquired  a 
tract  of  over  600  acres  there  about  1870  and  had  set  out  an  orange 
orchard  and  planted  eucalyptus  trees  which  have  since  acquired  some 
importance  as  the  guardians  and  landmarks  of  Lomita  .\venue.  On 
the  San  Fernando  road  at  its  junction  with  the  Verdugo  road,  the 
Hunter  family  had  been  established  since  1860.  When  settlers  came 
into  the  valley  in  1883,  there  was  the  natural  neighborliness  that 
characterizes  pioneering  everywhere  and  it  led  the  people  of  the 
entire  community  to  get  together  and  attempt  to  accomplish  certain 
things  for  the  general  welfare. 

The  first  and  temporary  center  of  their  activities  was  the  new 


78  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

school  building  (on  the  site  of  the  present  Cerritos  Avenue  school)  on 
Glendale  Avenue,  where  the  first  church  services  were  held  and  where 
there  were  frequent  evening  meetings  for  counsel  among  neighbors. 

It  was  at  the  schoolhouse  one  evening  in  1883  that  a  meeting  was 
held  at  which  Mr.  George  D.  Howland.  principal  of  the  school,  was 
made  chairman.  No  minutes  of  this  meeting  have  been  preserved, 
but  Mr.  Howland  remembers  that  the  meeting  was  well  attended  and 
it  was  decided  that  the  name  of  the  new  settlement  should  be  "Glen- 
dale." Previous  to  that  time  the  settlement  along  the  river  had  been 
locally  known  as  Riverdale,  and  the  name  of  the  school  district  was 
"Sepulveda,"  so  it  may  safely  be  inferred  that  both  of  the  last  men- 
tioned names  were  suggested,  as  was  also  "Etheldene,"  this  sug- 
gestion being  credited  to  Mrs.  A.  S.  Moore,  wife  of  Col.  Moore,  living 
at  the  east  end  of  "Moore  Avenue"  as  it  was  later  known,  and  still 
later  as  "Palmer  Avenue."  There  was  no  suggestion  at  that  early 
date  of  boundary  lines  and  if  such  limitation  had  been  suggested, 
"Glendale"  would  probablj'  have  included  all  of  the  territory  between 
Los  Angeles  and  San  Fernando,  all  of  which  was  open  to  preemp- 
tion as  to  nomenclature. 

It  is  evident  therefore  that  at  that  time  "Tropico,"  being  as  yet 
otherwise  unnamed,  was  a  part  of  Glendale  without  protest  and  by  a 
somewhat  informal  vote  of  its  citizens.  A  few  months  later  the 
entire  community  united  to  erect  a  building  in  which  to  hold  religious 
services,  and  erected  the  first  church  in  the  valley,  a  small  frame 
structure  located  on  the  west  side  of  Glendale  Avenue  at  what  is 
now  the  northwest  corner  of  Windsor  Road.  This  was  a  neighbor- 
hood, and  not  a  denominational  enterprise,  and  it  was  clearly  under- 
stood that  it  was  to  be  independent  of  any  sect  and  open  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  by  any  one  who  felt  a  "call."  It  was  conducted  on 
this  basis  for  a  short  time  until  a  reverend  gentleman,  by  the  name 
of  Stevens,  who  was  the  only  resident  preacher  in  the  neighborhood, 
succeeded  in  organizing  a  congregation  under  the  control  of  the  M. 
E.  Church. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  this  occurred,  the  Presbyterians  organ- 
ized and  built  a  church  on  the  present  site  of  the  G.  A.  R.  hall  on 
Glendale  Avenue.  Adjoining,  or  very  near  to  the  Presbyterian  church, 
Mr.  A.  S.  Hollingsworth  resided  and  carried  on  a  small  general  store. 

In  1886,  a  postoffice  was  established  at  the  store  of  Mr.  Hollings- 
worth, and  as  is  told  elsewhere,  was  given  the  name  of  "Mason"  by 
the  postofiice  authorities,  with  Mr.  Hollingsworth  as  postmaster.  All 
of  these  events  were  gradually  working  to  break  up  the  complete 
harmony  which  at  first  existed  in  the  community,  as  individual  ambi- 
tions began  to  pull  in  different  directions,  seeking  a  center  around 
which  things  might  revolve. 

Then,  in  1887,  the  Glendale  Townsite  was  put  upon  the  map, 
starting  a  center  at  Glendale  Avenue  and  Third  Street,  and  this  was 
followed  by  the  removal  of  the  Presbyterian  church  to  "Glendale." 
The  attempt  to  pull  the  activities  of  the  entire  community  from  the 
lower  end  of  the  avenue  a  mile  or  more  up  hill,  proved  to  be  physi- 
cally and  morally  impossible  and  the  strain  broke  the  settlement  in 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  79 

two.  Then,  in  May,  1887,  the  Southern  Pacific  company  established 
its  depot  for  Glendale  and  called  it  "Tropico." 

Thus  Tropico  came  into  being  and  Glendale  practically  retired 
to  the  northern  end  of  the  avenue,  the  one  community  splitting  into 
two  pieces  which  from  that  time  forward  until  the  consolidation  of 
1917,  had  frequent  spasms  of  disagreement.  The  division  lines  of  the 
school  districts  gave  a  partially  official  line  of  demarkation.  and  the 
same  being  adopted  by  the  city  of  Glendale  as  its  southerly  boundary 
when  that  city  incorporated  in  1906,  a  point  half  way  between  Ninth 
and  Tenth  Streets  (renamed  Windsor  and  Garfield  respectively)  be- 
came the  recognized  division  between  the  two  neighliors. 

Previous  to  1905,  a  general  store,  a  blacksmith  siiop.  meat  store, 
livery  stable  and  a  few  small  concerns  constituted  the  business  dis- 
trict of  Tropico,  gathered  together  near  the  foot  of  Central  Avenue 
along  the  San  Fernando  Road.  In  1905.  the  frame  structure  in  which 
the  general  store  had  been  conducted  gave  way  to  a  two-story  brick 
block  erected  by  John  A.  Logan,  who  opened  therein  a  large  general 
store. 

Within  the  year  another  brick  building  was  erected  on  the  same 
side  of  the  street  by  Peter  Gabaig,  and  the  "sleepy  village"  soon  found 
itself  awake  and  calling  for  all  the  luxuries  demanded  by  a  newly 
awakened  and  ambitious  community.  The  Tropico  Art  Tile  Works 
was  established  in  1904,  beginning  at  once  to  employ  a  large  number 
of  people  and  has  continued  ever  since,  a  constant  output  of  high 
class  products,  equalled  in  quality  by  only  a  few  other  similar  estab- 
lishments in  the  United  States. 

Allusion  is  made  elsewhere  in  this  work  to  the  raising  of  straw- 
berries, which  for  a  number  of  years  was  carried  on  so  successfully 
in  the  valley  about  Tropico.  Glendale  and  Burbank.  Hut  Tropico 
was  the  head  as  well  as  the  center  of  this  industry.  The  office  of 
the  Strawberry  Growers'  Association,  with  its  shipping  depot,  was 
located  here  and  some  of  the  best  producing  fields  were  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity.  From  a  pamphlet  issued  by  the  Tropico  Improvement 
Association  in  1904,  we  quote  the  following:  "In  the  winter  markets 
of  New  York,  Philadelphia.  Boston  and  other  eastern  cities,  Tropico 
strawberries  have  sold  at  higher  prices  than  berries  from  any  other 
section  of  the  state  or  from  any  other  section  of  the  entire  country. 
From  April  to  November,  the  shipments  are  great  to  outside  points, 
as  far  as  Colorado  and  Texas  and  the  quality  of  the  berries  grown  at 
Tropico  creates  a  constant  and  ever  increasing  demand."  The  busi- 
ness prospered  and  added  greatly  to  the  prosperity  of  the  community 
for  three  or  four  years,  but  the  Japanese  gradually  secured  control  of 
it  and  in  their  eagerness  to  get  rich  quick  they  allowed  the  growers' 
association  to  go  to  pieces,  and  competition  among  the  growers  suc- 
ceeded co-operation,  with  disastrous  results.  But  Tropico  contin- 
ued to  grow,  home  makers  being  attracted  to  the  place  by  its  prox- 
imity to  Los  Angeles  and  its  natural  beauty. 

This  growth  was  most  noticeable,  of  course,  after  the  comjile- 
tion  of  the  Interurban  railway  in  1904.  giving  a  means  of  transporta- 
tion  to   and   from    Los   Angeles   which    was   the   culmination  of   the 


80  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

efforts  of  years  of  hard  work  on  the  part  of  t!ie  pimieers  and  their 
immediate  successors. 

First  of  all,  by  reason  of  years  of  residence,  age  and  service,  W. 
C.  B.  Richardson  may  properly  be  named.  As  a  pioneer  and  as  the 
owner  of  the  largest  single  piece  of  property  in  the  vicinity,  Mr. 
Richardson  easily  gained  the  right  to  be  alluded  to  as  Tropico's  first 
citizen,  and  who  was  always  among  the  first  to  contribute  to  every 
worthy  local  cause. 

Samuel  Hunter,  who  still  resides  in  the  vicinity,  has  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  the  oldest  white  settler  in  point  of  residence,  in  the 
valley,  dating  back  to  1860. 

Robert  Devine.  who  died  in  1919,  was  the  owner  of  forty  acres 
on  the  south  side  of  San  Fernando  Road,  having  located  his  family 
there  in  1882. 

Edward  Ayers,  one  of  the  settlers  who  came  in  1883,  had  also 
been  a  miner  in  early  days  on  the  Coast.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  char- 
acter and  possessed  a  remarkable  fund  of  native  humor  and  neigh- 
borly kindness  that  endeared  him  to  all  his  acquaintances.  His 
widow,  Mrs.  Mary  Ayers,  shared  with  him  many  years  of  pioneering 
experience. 

Samuel  Ayers  located  in  Tropico  in  1883  also,  and  in  the  early 
times  of  its  history  was  an  active  worker  in  all  movements  for  the 
progress  of  the  community.  Mrs.  Minnie  Ayers,  his  widow,  is  still 
a  resident  of  Tropico,  and  with  her  husband  was  always  a  worker  for 
community  welfare,  particularly  with  the  Presbj'terian  church. 

One  of  the  most  active  realty  dealers  in  the  valley  during  the 
"boom"  of  the  late  '80's  was  I.  M.  Clippinger.  a  resident  of  Tropico. 

N.  C.  Burch  was  a  prominent  resident  of  this  section  for  many 
years  until  his  death  which  occurred  in  1920.  Mr.  Burch  was  an 
attorney  at  law  and  an  old  newspaper  man.  He  served  as  City  Clerk 
of  Tropico  and  also  conducted  the  Tropico  Sentinel. 

But  it  is  useless  to  attempt  to  call  the  roll  of  the  pioneers,  for 
as  the  writer  attempts  to  name  one,  a  procession  of  others  begins  to 
troop  across  the  field  of  memory.  Their  names  will  be  recalled  by 
their  few  contemporaries  who  survive  them.  Are  they  all  shades,  or 
does  it  happen  that  even  one  of  them  survives?  There  appear  in  the 
procession  to  pass  review,  Dunsmoor,  Woodard,  Hogaboom,  Peck- 
ham,  Wilkinson,  Buchanan,  Marsh,  Thompson,  Gabaig,  Light,  Cook, 
Hodgson,  Erskine,  Rice,  Hobbs,  Hollingsworth,  Chandler,  Hickman, 
Imler,  Gilbert,  Riley,  Jarvis,  Bullis.  G.  W.  Woodard,  for  many  years 
a  police  officer  in  Los  Angeles  and  now  retired,  resides  in  the  latter 
city.  W.  H.  Bullis,  one  of  the  youngest  of  the  company  as  measured 
by  birthdays,  but  old  in  years  of  residence  and  usefulness,  is  still 
among  us. 

Possibly  one  or  two  of  the  others  named  may  with  justice  resent 
being  classed  among  the  "shades."  But  living  or  dead,  the  names  be- 
long to  Tropico.  In  the  case  of  others  the  family  name  is  kept  alive, 
by  very  much  alive  descendants  of  the  pioneers.  It  can  readily  be 
seen  from  this  imperfect  sketch  so  far,  that  the  Tropico  section,  al- 
though covering  a  somewhat  limited  area  as  compared  with  the  rest 


Residence  of   Ktlvvard   Avers   about    IS'IO 
A  Partial  V'ievv  of  the  Santa  l':ulalia  Ranch  about  1900. 
Tropico's  Blue  Ribbon  Float,  at  Los  Angeles,  in  1901. 


OLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  83 

of  Glendale,  furnished  even  more  than  its  average  quota  of  settlers 
and  home  builders  who  were  in  at  the  beginning,  in  the  making  of  the 
Glendale  of  today. 

By  1910,  there  were  a  considerable  number  of  business  establish- 
ments in  Tropico,  with  the  number  of  residents  constantly  increasing. 
In  that  year  the  Bank  of  Tropico  was  organized  and  a  Chamber  of 
Commerce  was  enlivening  the  community. 

The  number  of  commuters  who  traveled  daily  between  their 
places  of  business  in  Los  Angeles  and  their  Tropico  homes,  had  in- 
creased to  a  considerable  company,  and  it  was  not  unnatural  that 
they  should  as  a  rule  favor  the  closer  relationship  of  their  doulile 
interests  which  they  thought  would  follow  the  annexation  of  Tro])- 
ico  to  the  great  and  growing  city,  just  over  the  hills  and  daily  draw- 
ing nearer.  And  so  when  it  became  apparent  that  some  sort  of  polit- 
ical machinery  was  necessary  with  which  to  accomplish  the  things  in 
the  way  of  public  improvements  that  were  becoming  more  insistently 
necessary,  there  was  considerable  agitation  for  annexation  to  Lns 
Angeles  among  the  class  of  citizens  alluded  to.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
very  considerable  numl)er  of  people  were  equally  anxious  to  become 
a  part  of  the  city  of  Glendale,  which  had  for  the  past  few  years  been 
giving  a  demonstration  of  rather  successful  home  rule,  and  stress  was 
placed  upon  the  fact  that  the  two  sections  were  intended  by  nature 
to  become  one.  There  was  still  a  third  class  composed  of  those  who 
hesitated  about  taking  the  important  step  in  either  direction.  The 
result  was  that  for  a  year  or  two  the  subject  was  kept  alive  by  a  con- 
stant agitation  which  was  bound,  sooner  or  later,  to  be  brought  to  an 
issue. 

The  unvarnished  relation  of  the  conditions  preceding  the  birth  of 
the  official  City  of  Tropico,  can  give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  feelings  of 
the  people  at  the  time.  There  were  the  three  parties  as  stated;  the 
Los  Angeles  annexationists,  the  independent  city  party  and  the  pro- 
ponents of  annexation  to  Glendale.  The  latter  were  located  princi- 
pally in  the  northeast  section  of  the  district,  east  of  Brand  Boulevard 
and  adjacent  to  Glendale.  Their  ambition  to  join  Glendale,  naturally 
had  the  sympathy  of  the  people  of  that  city  and  was  not  discouraged 
by  the  city  officials.  They  put  into  circulation  a  petition  to  the  Glen- 
dale trustees  asking  that  an  election  be  called  to  decide  the  question 
of  annexation.  This  petition  having  the  number  of  signatures  re- 
quired by  law.  there  was  nothing  for  the  Glendale  officials  to  do  but 
to  call  the  election,  fixing  the  date  of  March  21,  1911.  The  district 
proposed  to  be  annexed,  was  bounded,  approximately,  on  the  west  by 
a  line  drawn  between  Brand  Boulevard  and  Central  Avenue,  on  the 
south  by  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  and  followed  an  irregular 
course  northeasterly  up  over  the  hills  and  out  to  a  point  in  the  Glen- 
dale city  southern  boundary  line,  some  2,000  feet  west  of  Verdugo 
Road.  This  would  have  taken  in  the  Forest  Lawn  cemetery  and 
everything  on  the  east  side  of  a  line  drawn  a  short  distance  west  of 
Brand  Boulevard.    The  situation  was  serious. 

The  Tropico  Sentinel  had  just  been  started  on  its  journalistic 


84  GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY 

career  by  H.  W.  Melrose  and  its  pages  fairly  glowed  with  patriotic 
appeals  to  the  citizens  of  Tropico  to  defend  their  altars,  while  the 
Board  of  Trade,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Frank  Davis,  was  func- 
tioning vigorously,  and  mass  meetings  were  affording  an  outlet  for 
the  indignant  protests  of  the  citizens  who  objected  to  the  union  with 
Glendale.  But  all  this  would  not  have  prevented  the  City  of  Tropico 
from  annihilation,  even  before  its  birth,  had  not  some  one  conceived 
the  brilliant  idea  of  starting  a  legal  back  fire  to  make  harmless  the 
schemes  of  the  enemy.  This  was  done  by  starting  a  petition  and  se- 
curing the  legally  requisite  number  of  signatures,  asking  the  Super- 
visors of  the  County  to  call  an  election  to  vote  upon  the  proposition 
of  creating  the  City  of  Tropico.  This  action  was  pushed  with  such 
vigor  and  promptness  that  the  County  authorities  received  the  peti- 
tion and  called  an  election  to  take  place  on  March  fifteenth,  five  days 
before  the  date  of  the  Glendale  annexation  election.  The  territory  cov- 
ered by  the  annexation  petition  was  included  in  the  district  described 
in  the  petition  for  the  City  of  Tropico,  with  the  exception  of  the  cem- 
etery and  a  few  residences  in  that  vicinity.  By  the  vote  on  March 
15,  1911,  Tropico  was  admitted  into  the  honorable  family  of  California 
municipalities,  and  when  the  newly  elected  trustees  held  their  first 
meeting  on  March  seventeenth,  one  of  their  first  acts  was  to  instruct 
their  city  attorney  to  institute  proceedings  to  enjoin  the  City  of  Glen- 
dale from  annexing  any  of  Tropico's  territory  at  the  election  to  take 
place  three  days  hence.  No  legal  steps  were  necessary,  however; 
the  city  attorney  of  Glendale  advised  the  trustees  of  that  city  that  the 
election  would  have  to  be  held  according  to  call,  but  that  regardless 
of  the  result,  the  City  of  Tropico  would  no  doubt  be  entitled  to  exist 
as  determined  by  the  election  of  the  fifteenth.  The  election  came  of! 
on  the  twentieth  as  called,  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  voting 
99  to  55  in  favor  of  annexation.  Their  vote  was  too  late  to  be  of 
effect  and  by  a  narrow  margin  of  five  days  the  new  city  came  into 
being. 

The  officers  elected  were  the  following:  Trustees,  C.  A.  Ban- 
croft, John  Hobbs,  E.  W.  Richardson,  C.  C.  Rittenhouse,  Daniel 
Webster;  clerk,  S.  M.  Street;  treasurer,  John  A.  Logan.  The 
Board  of  Trustees  held  its  first  meeting  on  March  17,  1911,  and  or- 
ganized by  electing  C.  C.  Rittenhouse,  president.  Frederic  Baker 
was  appointed  city  attorney.  At  this  meeting  J.  E.  Shuey  was  ap- 
pointed recorder  and  J.  L.  Fishback,  marshal.  At  the  meeting  of 
April  fourteenth  E.  M.  Lynch  was  appointed  engineer  and  a  permit 
granted  for  the  running  of  a  pool  room.  This  meeting  was  attended 
by  Trustee  E.  W.  Richardson,  while  at  the  meeting  held  April  twenty- 
seventh,  his  associates  had  occasion  to  pass  a  resolution  expressing 
regret  at  his  death  and  appreciation  of  his  services.  Mr.  Richardson 
was  esteemed  as  a  man  of  high  character  and  enjoyed  a  reputation 
in  the  community  for  fairness  and  integrity.  Mrs.  Ella  W.  Richard- 
son, well  known  in  Glendale,  is  his  widow.  On  May  fourth,  Mr.  B.  W. 
Richardson,  a  brother  of  the  deceased  trustee,  was  appointed  to  be  his 
successor. 


Forim-rly   I.  ity    Hall   ol    I'lopico. 


The   First   National   Bank  of  Glendale.   Brand   Boulevard  and   Cypress  Avenue, 
and   (al)ovc)   the  Same   Location  about   1910. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  87 

The  valuation  of  the  territory  included  in  the  city  for  this  year 
was  $492,666.  The  new  government  started  promptly  the  work  of 
street  improvement,  the  imperative  need  of  which  had  been  one  of 
the  weighty  arguments  favoring  the  formation  of  a  city  government 
Central  Avenue  was  the  first  proceeding  of  this  kind  started,  the  con- 
tract for  that  improvement  being  let  on  June  seventeenth.  During 
the  life  of  the  city,  a  period  of  less  than  six  years,  the  number  of 
streets  improved  was  twenty-nine,  comprising  all  of  the  principal 
thoroughfares. 

In  the  Sentinel's  first  issue  about  this  time  appeared  the  adver- 
tisement of  the  "Tropico  Mercantile  Company" ;  "Tropico  Meat 
Market,"  A.  Stephenson,  proprietor;  McKiuney  &  Son,  hardware; 
Tropico  Drug  Co.,  and  a  number  of  smaller  institutions.  There  is  also 
a  picture  of  the  new  Bank  of  Tropico,  "open  six  months,"  with  de- 
posits of  $67,000.  Reference  is  made  to  the  Tropico  Public  School, 
Mrs.  Martha  McClure,  principal,  with  the  following  assistants:  Helen 
Ingraham,  Freda  Borthick,  Gertrude  Bond,  Ira  Hunter,  Letta  Hib- 
ben  and  May  Cornwall. 

The  issue  of  March  fourth  reports  the  mass  meeting  of  the  previ- 
ous Saturday  evening,  addressed  by  Mr.  Frank  Davis,  president  of 
the  Board  of  Trade;  Judge  Shuey,  C.  C.  Rittenhouse,  John  Hobbs, 
Daniel  Webster,  Messrs.  Carmack,  Eshelman,  Davenport  and  Gris- 
wold.  The  two  last  named  appear  to  have  been  in  the  minority  as 
favoring  annexation  to  Glendale,  the  others  being  either  proponents 
of  independent  incorporation  or  annexation  to  Los  Angeles.  One 
reads  between  the  lines  that  the  temperature  was  above  normal. 

An  "Aerial  Trolley,"  the  invention  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Fawkes  of  Bur- 
bank,  is  pictured  as  transporting  passengers  through  the  air  from 
Burbank  to  the  sea  coast;  its  practicability  clearly  demonstrated 
and  prophecies  as  to  its  near-future  accomplishments  dwelt  upon  at 
length  in  a  quite  convincing  manner.  Subsequent  issues  also  amplify 
the  aerial  trolley  propaganda. 

Although  the  new  city  had  made  a  good  start  and  was  beginning 
to  accomplish  things,  in  the  way  of  street  improvement  particularly, 
the  faction  that  favored  annexation  to  Los  Angeles  was  by  no  means 
discouraged,  and  continued  their  efforts  to  bring  about  the  result  they 
desired.  On  October  twenty-sixth,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the 
trustees  signed  by  110  residents,  asking  that  steps  be  taken  to  bring 
about  consolidation  with  Los  Angeles;  this  was  referred  to  the  city 
attorney  and  appears  to  have  been  insufficient  in  that  it  lacked  the 
requisite  signatures  of  one-fifth  of  the  voters. 

A  petition  sent  in  to  the  City  of  Glendale,  asking  for  consolida- 
tion of  that  city  with  Tropico,  had  better  success  and  resulted  in  an 
election  being  held  on  December  sixteenth.  The  vote  on  this  occasion 
was  as  follows :  In  Tropico,  there  were  740  votes  cast,  of  which  num- 
ber 352  voted  in  favor  of  consolidation  and  387  against  the  proposition. 
In  Glendale  there  were  27}>  votes  for  consolidation  and  19  against  it. 
The  small  majority  against  consolidation  cast  in  Tropico  was  suf- 
ficient to  defeat  it  and  the  local  government  continued  to  function. 


88  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

A  great  deal  of  dissatisfaction  existed  as  to  the  service  given  by 
the  private  company  furnishing  electricity  and  water  and  all  through 
the  existence  of  the  city  the  question  of  municipal  ownership  of  these 
utilities  was  almost  constantly  being  agitated. 

A  bond  election  was  held  in  December  of  1911,  on  a  proposition 
to  buy  the  property  of  the  existing  electric  light  plant,  but  the  voters 
refused  to  sustain  it  and  the  private  company  continued  to  supply 
both  electricity  and  water,  until  the  city  merged  with  Glendale,  when 
the  district,  which  comprised  the  city  during  its  existence,  voted  to 
bond  itself  and  purchased  both  systems  which  were  at  once  taken 
over  by  the  city  of  Glendale,  thus  solving  a  problem  of  long  standing. 

At  the  April  election  of  1912  the  following  trustees  were  elected: 
C.  A.  Bancroft,  O.  A.  Conrad,  John  Hobbs.  Irving  Oliver  and  Daniel 
Webster;  S.  M.  Street,  clerk  and  S.  E.  Brown,  treasurer.  Judge 
George  C.  Melrose  was  appointed  recorder.  An  ordinance  was 
adopted  on  May  sixteenth  establishing  a  public  library. 

On  September  5,  1912,  a  franchise  was  granted  to  the  Pacific 
Telegraph  and  Telephone  Company ;  a  similar  privilege  had  been  sold 
to  the  General  Pipe  Line  of  California,  represented  by  Mr,  Fitz- 
patrick.  On  January  23,  1913,  a  franchise  was  sold  to  the  Southern 
California  Gas  Company.  The  need  was  being  keenly  felt  for  a 
municipal  building  and  early  in  the  year  this  matter  began  to  be 
agitated.  It  was  decided  to  ask  the  voters  to  support  a  bond  issue 
of  $25,000  for  this  purpose,  to  be  divided  as  follows:  Fire  engine  and 
equipment,  $12,000;  fire  hydrants,  $4,000;  and  $9,000  for  combined 
City  Hall  and  Fire  House.  At  the  election  which  followed  the  prop- 
osition carried  by  a  vote  of  218  to  71.  A  delay  of  several  months  en- 
sued before  a  site  for  the  municipal  building  was  decided. 

All  through  the  brief  history  of  Tropico  the  Los  Angeles  annexa- 
tionists kept  persistently  busy  and  on  March  13,  1914,  the  Tropico 
Consolidation  Club  filed  a  petition  with  the  Board  of  Trustees  signed 
by  693  citizens  asking  that  an  election  be  called  to  decide  the  question 
of  consolidation  with  Los  Angeles.  The  election  was  called  for  May 
twenty-sixth,  but  owing  to  some  legal  informality  the  date  was  later 
fixed  for  June  sixteenth.  When  the  votes  were  counted,  it  was  found 
that  252  favored  and  395  opposed  consolidation.  The  attitude  of  the 
ruling  body  of  the  city  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  when  the  city 
clerk  on  April  thirtieth  asked  permission  to  have  some  letter  heads 
and  envelopes  printed,  he  was  informed  that  it  was  probable  that  the 
city  would  consolidate  with  Los  Angeles  at  the  coming  election,  and 
that  stationery  with  the  imprint  of  the  City  of  Tropico  on  it  would 
be  out  of  date.     He  was  authorized  to  purchase  500  plain  envelopes. 

At  the  April  election  in  1914  the  following  officers  were  elected : 
Trustees.  James  Rich,  C.  H.  Henry,  A.  E.  Boice;  Messrs.  Conrad  and 
Webster  holding  over.  N.  C.  Burch  was  elected  city  clerk  and 
Stillman  E,  Brown,  treasurer.  Mr,  James  Rich  became  president  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees.  Mr.  H.  P.  Goodwin  succeeded  Mr.  Frederic 
Baker  as  city  attorney,  C,  H.  Smith  was  appointed  marshal,  while 
Mr.  F.  V.  Ashton  succeeded  Mr.  E.  M.  Lynch  as  engineer.    Members 


1^^^ 

Kivirdale  Drive  al)Out  1908  and  in  1922. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  91 

of  the  Library  Board  were  appointed  consisting  of  Walter  Hibljert. 
Miss  Cora  B.  Hickman,  Mrs.  Luella  M.  Bullis.  This  year  was  char- 
acterized by  the  usual  agitation  of  the  question  of  the  water  supply 
and  the  electric  light  system;  the  latter  being  owned  by  Mr.  L.  C 
Brand  and  the  former  controlled  by  him  as  trustee  of  the  Consolidated 
Water  Company,  the  voters  refusing  to  sanction  the  purchase  of  the 
plants. 

Bids  were  called  for  to  furnish  a  lot  on  which  to  erect  the  new 
citj-  hall.  There  was  lively  competition  between  the  business  section 
on  San  Fernando  Road  and  a  proposed  new  business  section  on 
Brand  Boulevard.  Among  the  bids  received  were  the  following :  Bj- 
Stepper  Bros.,  a  lot  on  Brand  Boulevard  north  of  Cypress  Street, 
50  by  162  feet,  $2,500.  A.  J.  Adair,  San  Fernando  north  of  Tropico 
Avenue,  100  by  150  feet.  $4,000.  L.  C.  Brand,  lot  on  Brand  Boule- 
vard, 100  by  150  feet,  $3,000.  H.  Davenport,  on  east  side  of  Brand, 
corner  of  Cypress  Street,  $4,200.  J.  J.  Burke,  northeast  corner  Trop- 
ico Avenue  and  Central,  100  by  183  feet,  $2,600. 

On  May  fourteenth,  an  offer  made  by  Leigh  Bancroft  of  a  lot 
on  the  southwest  corner  of  Brand  Boulevard  and  Tropico  Avenue 
(Los  Feliz  Road)  for  $2,200  was  accepted  by  a  vote  of  3  to  2.  Bids 
for  the  building  were  called  for  in  July  and  that  of  E.  D.  Yard,  a 
Glendale  builder,  was  accepted,  the  contract  price  being  $7,976.  On 
August  seventeenth  the  corner  stone  was  laid  and  on  October  31. 
1914,  the  completion  of  the  building  was  celebrated. 

The  annual  report  of  the  city  clerk  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1914,  showed  an  estimated  population  of  the  city  of  3,200. 
compared  with  1,200  in  1910.  The  assessed  valuation  had  risen  to 
$940,900. 

In  January,  1915,  C.  H.  Smith,  the  city  marshal,  was  shot  and 
killed  by  a  highwayman  whom  he  had  arrested.  The  trustees 
adopted  a  resolution  showing  appreciation  for  the  character  and 
services  of  the  dead  officer.  In  the  same  month  Mr.  James  Rich,  who 
had  been  a  trustee  and  president  of  the  board  since  April,  1914,  died 
after  a  short  illness. 

Mr.  Daniel  Webster  succeeded  Mr.  Rich  as  president  of  the 
board.  Mr.  F.  A.  Alspach  was  appointed  trustee.  Mr.  H.  A.  Good- 
win was  appointed  city  attorney.  On  March  ninth.  Judge  George  C. 
Melrose  resigned,  Mr.  S.  E.  Brown  being  appointed  to  fill  the  va- 
cancy. In  October  Mr.  L.  C.  Brand  offered  to  sell  the  city  the  Trop- 
ico Water  Company  at  a  price  of  $50,000,  but  no  action  was  taken. 

The  election  of  April,  1916.  resulted  in  the  election  of  the  fol- 
lowing: Trustees,  F.  A.  Alspach,  F.  E.  Peters,  W.  C.  Seal;  Trustees 
Boice  and  Henry  holding  over;  Miss  Margaret  Coleman,  clerk;  S.  E. 
Brown,  treasurer ;  Hartley  Shaw,  city  attorney. 

On  June  6,  1916,  Mr.  W.  G.  Black  presented  a  petition  to  the 
trustees  asking  that  an  election  be  called  for  the  purpose  of  voting 
on  the  proposition  of  consolidation  with  the  City  of  Glendale.  This 
petition  was  signed  by  378  voters  out  of  a  total  registration  of  1,168. 
The  election  was  called  for  August  fifth.    The  campaign  that  followed 


92  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

was  a  repetition  of  former  history,  at  a  slightly  lower  temperature. 
The  result  of  the  vote  was  381  in  favor  and  393  against  consolidation. 

On  October  thirty-first,  Mr.  Boice  resigned  as  trustee  and  Mr. 
F.  A.  Alspach  was  appointed  to  the  vacancy.  On  May  29.  1917,  the 
popular  and  efficient  city  clerk,  Miss  Margaret  Coleman,  died,  the 
trustees  passing  a  highly  eulogistic  resolution  in  honor  of  her  mem- 
ory.   Mr.  A.  J.  Van  Wie  was  appointed  city  clerk. 

The  Consolidationists  and  the  .'\nnexationists  resumed  their  ac- 
tivities. On  June  fourth,  a  petition  for  an  election  on  consolidation 
with  Glendale  was  filed,  checked  up  and  found  to  be  insufficient. 
While  another  was  being  prepared  the  opposition  was  also  busy  and 
succeeded  in  getting  a  similar  petition  into  the  city  council  of  Los 
Angeles  asking  also  for  an  election  to  vote  on  consolidation  with  that 
city.  The  Tropico-Glendale  petition  was  withdrawn  and  the  trustees 
on  June  seventeenth  received  an  acknowledgment  from  the  city  coun- 
cil of  Los  Angeles  of  the  receipt  of  the  Tropico  petition.  There  en- 
sued claims  and  counter  claims,  charges  and  counter  charges.  On 
July  third,  the  petition  asking  an  election  to  determine  the  question 
of  Tropico-Los  Angeles  consolidation,  was  received  and  referred  to 
the  city  attorney ;  communications  were  also  received  from  certain 
citizens  asking  for  the  withdrawal  of  their  names  from  the  petitions. 

However,  on  July  tenth,  the  Los  Angeles-Tropico  petition  was 
declared  sufficient  and  the  attorney  was  instructed  to  prepare  the 
necessary  papers  calling  an  election  for  August  29,  1917,  to  determine 
whether  Tropico  become  a  part  of  Los  Angeles.  The  usual  campaign 
ensued  and  when  the  votes  were  counted  on  September  fourth  it 
was  found  that  there  had  been  333  votes  cast  in  favor  of  the  consoli- 
dation and  548  against  it.  The  end  was  now  drawing  near  and  on 
September  25,  1917,  a  petition  was  filed  with  the  trustees  asking  for 
an  election  on  the  consolidation  of  Tropico  and  Glendale,  with  514 
names  attached. 

The  clerk's  report  showed  that  the  total  registered  vote  in  the 
City  of  Tropico  was  1,548,  that  the  514  names  represented  more  than 
one-fifth  of  the  total  number  of  registered  voters,  and  was  therefore 
sufficient.  There  were  at  that  time  in  Glendale  4,301  registered 
voters.  The  election  was  therefore  called  for  November  21,  1917. 
This  was  the  last  of  the  many  elections  held  by  the  City  of  Tropico  as 
an  entity,  for  when  the  vote  was  counted  it  showed  that  there  had 
been  861  votes  cast  upon  the  question  of  consolidation  with  Glendale, 
of  which  650  were  affirmative  and  211  negative.  The  City  of  Glendale 
by  ordinance  accepted  the  Tropico  section  into  official  family  relations 
and  the  union  was  completed  on  January  9,  1918.  The  merging  of 
the  two  cities  into  one  municipality  brought  to  a  happy  ending  the 
local  jealousies  which  had  for  years  from  time  to  time  marred  the 
relations  existing  between  neighbors  divided  only  by  an  imaginary 
line;  and  from  the  date  of  this  fortunate  merger,  the  naturally  homo- 
geneous community  moved  onward  harmoniously  towards  its  mani- 
fest destiny. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  TRANSPORTATION  QUESTION 

ORIGINALLY  FOUR  ROADS  THROUGH  THE  VALLEY.  THE  SET- 
TLERS OF  '83  OPEN  STREETS,  MUCH  AS  THEY  ARE  TODAY,  EXCEPT 
AS  TO  NUMBER.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  "SALT  LAKE  RAILROAD." 
GLENDALE'S  RAILROAD  BUILDER,  E.  D.  GOODE;  HIS  WORK  IN  CON- 
NECTION WITH  L.  C.  BRAND.  ACTIVITIES  OF  THE  IMPROVEMENT 
ASSOCIATIONS.  THE  PACIFIC  ELECTRIC  ROAD  COMES  INTO  THE 
VALLEY.  CELEBRATION  OF  ITS  COMPLETION.  EAGLE  ROCK  ROAD 
AND  VERDUGO  CANYON  EXTENSION  BUILT  BY  GOODE.  DEPOT 
ESTABLISHED  AT  "TROPICO."  INEFFECTUAL  EFFORTS  TO  OBTAIN 
"LOOP  LINE." 

Streets  and  Railroads 

The  records  of  the  first  Improvement  Association  organized  in 
the  valley  in  1886  are  incomplete  but  show  that  the  objects  for 
which  the  members  were  working  was  the  acquiring  of  public 
thoroughfares,  the  widening  of  others  and  the  occasional  opening  of 
an  entirely  new  street,  and  as  they  had  no  organized  local  government 
they  had  to  depend  upon  the  action  of  the  county  supervisors;  a  body 
of  five  men  who,  having  the  control  of  the  entire  county  upon  their 
shoulders,  were  not  always  prompt  to  respond  to  appeals  for  action, 
made  by  an  ambitious  but  struggling  community,  whose  political 
power  was  as  yet  of  comparatively  small  consequence.  That  so  much 
was  accomplished  as  the  record  shows  is  a  matter  of  wonderment. 

The  old  Verdugo  Canyon  County  road  on  the  east  side  of  the  set- 
tlement, at  that  time  known  as  "Verdugo,"  was  located  as  it  had  been 
since  the  days  of  the  Mission  fathers,  while  dating  back  to  the  same 
])eriod  was  the  "San  Fernando"  road  running  through  the  center.  A 
road  of  later  date,  but  probablj'  traveled  with  more  or  less  uncer- 
tainty as  far  as  a  beaten  track  was  concerned  for  many  years,  ran 
northward  from  the  San  Fernando  Road  up  to  the  few  residences. 
Sepulveda,  Sanchez,  Verdugo  and  perhaps  one  or  two  others  located 
on  the  mesa  where  is  now  Kenneth  Road.  The  new  comers  of  1883 
proceeded  to  name  this  thoroughfare  Crow  Avenue,  in  honor  of  H.  J. 
Crow. 

About  1886,  it  was  concluded  that  the  interests  of  the  community 
would  be  best  served  by  giving  a  more  distinctive  name  to  this  street 
and  it  was  named  Glendale  Avenue.  At  about  this  same  time,  the  Im- 
provement Association  passed  a  resolution  that  hereafter  all  roads 
leading  north  and  south  shall  be  called  avenues  and  those  running 
east  and  west,  streets.  This  plan  was  not  adhered  to,  and  the  modern 
city  has  a  multiplicity  of  streets,  avenues,  roads,  boulevards,  etc., 
running  in  all  directions.  The  roads  as  they  existed  through  the  val- 
ley in  1880  were  merely  a  series  of  parallel  tracks  running  in  a  sim- 


94  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

ilar  general  direction,  every  vehicle  trying  to  seek  out  a  new  track 
that  should  afford  as  few  chuck  holes  as  possible  in  summer-time, 
and  a  comparative  scarcity  of  mud  holes  in  winter. 

Even  the  San  Fernando  road  was  in  this  condition,  as  the  writer 
of  this  history  well  remembers  when  he  first  traveled  over  it  in  1878. 
There  was  no  bridge  over  the  arroyo  on  this  road  at  the  time  the  Im- 
provement Association,  above  spoken  of.  was  doing  business  at  va- 
rious meeting  places,  travelers  having  to  drive  down  into  the  bed  of 
the  Arroyo  Seco  on  one  side  and  up  out  of  it  on  the  other.  The  as- 
sociation took  hold  of  this  matter  vigorously,  appointing  committees 
to  see  the  supervisors  about  a  bridge  over  the  arroyo,  until  at  last 
a  bridge  was  built.  Until  the  bridge  was  built  the  route  over  this 
highway  from  Los  Angeles  was  out  Buena  Vista  street  (now  Broad- 
way) to  the  river,  thence  down  into  the  dry  bed  of  the  river,  usually 
(for  there  was  no  bridge  over  the  river  at  that  point),  and  up  its 
course  through  the  sand  to  a  point  near  the  mouth  of  the  arroyo. 
When  heavy  rains  occurred  it  was  not  unusual  for  both  of  these 
streams  to  be  impassable  until  the  storm  was  over  and  the  run  oflf 
bad  been  completed. 

As  recently  as  1883,  a  Glendale  man  had  a  team  of  horses 
drowned  in  attempting  to  ford  the  arroyo,  which  was  at  such  times 
more  dangerous  than  the  river,  at  this  point.  It  was  naturally 
recognized  as  of  prime  importance  that  the  road  connecting  the  city 
and  the  new  settlement  should  at  all  times  be  kept  in  a  passable  condi- 
tion, as  among  the  earlier  settlers  were  a  number  of  that  class  of  use- 
ful citizens  who  in  a  later  and  perhaps  happier  time  would  be  classed 
as  "commuters,"  when  traveling  daily  to  and  from  their  places  of 
business  by  rail,  but  who  in  the  early  '80's  did  their  own  commuting 
by  horse  and  buggy  or  on  horseback. 

On  August  30,  1886,  the  first  road  committee  of  which  we  find 
record  consisted  of  H.  J.  Crow.  Dr.  J.  S.  Morgan,  S.  A.  Ayres,  S.  E. 
Chase  and  J.  C.  Sherer.  This  committee  had  put  upon  it  the  responsi- 
bility of  seeing  the  supervisors  in  regard  to  bridge  over  the  arroyo. 
and  another  committee  was  also  appointed  consisting  of  Wm.  Riley, 
J.  F.  Dunsmoor  and  E.  T.  Byram,  who  were  to  confer  with  the  Los 
Angeles  city  councilmen  in  an  attempt  to  get  some  work  done  on  the 
San  Fernando  road,  within  the  limits  of  the  city,  which  at  that  time 
extended  up  to  a  point  that  would  now  agree  with  the  location  of 
the  Taylor  Milling  Company  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  arroyo. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  October  11,  1886.  progress  in  opening  up 
new  streets  or  roads  was  shown  by  the  statements  made  by  Messrs. 
Jarvis.  Ayres  and  Barber  that  they  were  ready  to  deed  land  for  road 
purposes  for  the  thoroughfare  now  known  as  Park  Avenue.  Messrs. 
Crow,  Clippinger,  Bullis  and  Sherer  also  volunteered  readiness  to  do 
likewise  in  regard  to  roads  proposed  to  be  opened  through  or  along 
their  properties.  Mr.  P.  H.  Bullis  reported  having  presented  a  peti- 
tion to  the  Los  Angeles  city  council  asking  for  a  bridge  over  the  ar- 
royo and  stated  that  the  proper  officials  had  been  instructed  to  exam- 
ine and  report.  This  seems  to  have  been  a  live  meeting,  for  the  fol- 
lowing persons  were  appointed  a  committee  to  see  Los  Angeles  cap- 


6LENDALE  AND  VICINITY  95 

italists  about  building  a  railroad  into  the  valley,  viz. :  I.  M.  Clippinger, 
B.  F.  Patterson  and  J.  C.  Sharer.  Later  Messrs.  Crow  and  Byram 
were  added  to  the  committee,  a  strong  addition  as  both  men  were 
active  in  the  work  from  that  time  on  until  the  road  was  finally  com- 
pleted. 

Mr.  Bullis  was  appointed  a  committee  to  see  about  opening  a 
road  along  the  north  line  of  Mr.  Crow's  land.  This  would  seem  to 
have  reference  to  Broadway  (originally  Fourth  street)  the  original 
Crow  property  running  that  far  north  and  Mr.  Bullis  also  having  a 
twenty  acre  piece  on  the  same  road  near  the  San  Fernando  Road. 
Mr.  Riley  was  to  attend  to  the  opening  of  a  road  between  E.  Ayres 
and  Mr.  Wolf,  apparently  referring  to  what  later  became  Cypress 
Street. 

At  a  meeting  on  January  17,  1887.  committee  reported  that  deeds 
had  been  received  for  widening  Glendale  Avenue.  At  this  meeting 
it  was  suggested  that  the  road  running  north  and  south  between  the 
property  of  Crow  and  Glassell,  be  called  San  Rafael  Avenue,  which 
if  it  had  prevailed  would  have  left  the  name  of  Central  Avenue  to  be 
given  to  some  other  thoroughfare.  The  road  had  borne  the  name 
of  Central  Avenue  among  the  residents  of  that  section  previous  to 
that  time,  and  the  suggestion  of  the  new  nomenclature  seems  not  to 
have  been  a  popular  one,  although  favored  by  a  few  of  the  property 
owners  on  the  road  at  that  time. 

The  widening  of  Glendale  Avenue  was  accomplished  only  after 
considerable  work  had  been  done  by  the  committee  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  as  deeds  had  to  be  secured  from  owners  on  both  sides 
of  the  street  giving  on  each  side  a  ten  foot  strip;  the  road  had  to  be 
straightened  also  by  deeds  from  Sheriff  H.  M.  Mitchell,  owning  the 
property  on  the  east  side  where  the  road  started  northward  at  San 
Fernando  Road  and  from  the  trustees  of  the  school  property  on  the 
west  side.  This  Improvement  Association  of  1886  and  1887  must  be 
credited  with  the  creation  of  the  road  system  pretty  much  as  it 
existed  up  to  1888,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  was  a  job  well 
done  when  conditions  existing  at  that  time  are  taken  into  consider- 
ation. 

The  necessary  roads  having  been  obtained,  the  old  thorough- 
fares straightened  and  named,  the  pioneer  workers  did  not  stop  in  the 
good  work,  but  now  became  active  in  securing  a  railroad  that  would 
better  serve  their  daily  needs  for  transportation  than  did  the  through 
line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Company  which,  until  1887,  did  not  even 
have  a  stopping  place  in  the  settlement.  Probably  the  credit  of  se- 
curing the  desired  road  does  not  properly  belong  to  the  Improvement 
Association,  but  that  organization  certainly  did  much  in  assisting  the 
projectors  of  the  road  in  obtaining  rights  of  way  and  in  raising  the 
required  bonus. 

Captain  John  Cross  had  recently  come  to  the  coast  from  Little 
Rock,  Arkansas,  and  in  connection  with  A.  P.  Cross,  his  nephew, 
had  built  a  street  railroad  in  Santa  Barbara.  Through  the  efforts 
principally  of  H.  J.  Crow,  Judge  E.  M.  Ross  and  Capt.  C.  E.  Thorn, 
Capt.  Cross  became  interested  in  the  project  of  building  between  Los 


96  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Angeles  and  Glendale.  A  right  of  way  was  secured  from  the  Downey 
Avenue  bridge  to  Glendale  and  a  permit  was  secured  of  the  Board  of 
Supervisors.  This  permit  was  granted  February  14,  1887,  and  as  the 
nature  of  this  permit  has  sometimes  been  a  matter  of  controversy,  it 
is  presented  in  full,  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

The  road  was  subsidized  by  Judge  Ross,  Captain  Thorn  and  An- 
drew Glassell,  each  contributing  about  $5,000,  and  by  contribution  of 
land  and  small  subscriptions  from  others.  Some  of  these  latter  sub- 
scriptions were  never  paid,  as  contributions  were  made  with  a  proviso 
that  the  road  was  to  be  completed  within  a  specified  time,  and  Capt. 
Cross  was  unable  to  strictly  fulfill  this  part  of  the  agreement.  He 
completed  the  road  however  in  good  time  to  Glendale,  stopping  at 
First  Street  and  Glendale  Avenue.  He  also  secured  a  lease  of  Ver- 
dugo  Park  and  established  a  bus  line  between  his  rail  terminal  and 
the  park  which  became  a  popular  picnic  resort  and  helped  to  keep 
the  road  running.  Later  he  continued  the  laying  of  rails  and  the 
running  of  his  trains  to  the  park. 

The  following  details  of  the  railroad  building  activities  of  Capt. 
Cross  are  furnished  by  Mr.  A.  J.  Wheeler,  the  newspaper  pioneer  of 
that  time :  "In  1888  Cross  financed  and  built  a  standard  gauge  rail- 
road to  Pasadena,  calling  it  the  Pasadena  and  Altadena  Railroad, 
which  was  afterwards  sold  to  R.  C.  Kerns  and  B.  F.  Hobart  of  St. 
Louis,  who  called  it  the  Los  Angeles  Terminal  Railroad.  They 
bought  Rattlesnake  Island  from  the  Dominguez  Land  Company,  and 
extended  the  road  to  Long  Beach  and  Terminal  Island.  They  sold 
a  half  interest  to  Senator  W.  A.  Clark  of  Montana  and  the  combina- 
tion built  to  Provo,  Utah,  to  connect  with  the  Union  Pacific  branch 
running  from  Salt  Lake  to  Provo,  and  named  it  the  Los  Angeles, 
San  Pedro  and  Salt  Lake  Railroad.  This  was  sold  in  1922  to  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  The  Glendale-Los  Angeles  road 
was  transferred  with  the  Pasadena  line." 

People  of  Glendale  had  made  frequent  efforts  to  get  the  road 
electrified  for  passenger  service  without  success  until  early  in  1922, 
when  the  Glendale  Advancement  Association,  an  organization  of  busi- 
ness men  interested  principally  in  property  along  Glendale  Avenue 
and  Broadway,  undertook  the  task.  They  succeeded  in  interesting  the 
Glendale  and  Montrose  Railway  Company  in  the  project,  this  com- 
pany finally  getting  a  working  agreement  with  the  Union  Pacific 
Company  by  which  the  Glendale  and  Montrose  Company  was  to  be 
allowed  the  use  of  the  track  from  Verdugo  Park  to  the  junction  of 
the  San  Fernando  Road  and  Verdugo  Road  at  which  point  con- 
nection is  made  with  the  electric  line  of  the  Los  Angeles  Railway 
Company.  The  cost  of  converting  the  road  over  this  portion  of  its 
route  was  to  be  borne  by  the  Glendale-Montrose  Company  and  to 
assist  the  project  the  people  of  Glendale  and  vicinity  raised  a  bonus 
of  $25,000.  As  this  history  goes  to  press,  the  project  is  about  to  be 
successfully  completed,  thus  giving  Glendale  two  electric  rail  con- 
nections with  Los  Angeles. 

The  Salt  Lake  Company  served  the  people  of  the  valley  with 
limited  transportation  facilities  for  several  years,  but  the  Transporta- 


OLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  97 

tion  committee  of  the  Improvement  Associations  of  both  Glendale 
and  Tropico  found  ample  excuse  for  continuing  in  service  owing  to 
the  frequent  causes  of  complaint  given  by  the  railroad  company,  for 
inadequate  facilities.  We  find  by  reference  to  the  minutes  of  the 
meetings  held  in  1902,  and  1903,  that  the  people  were  dissatisfied  with 
the  railroad  service;  cars  were  not  run  at  sufficiently  frequent  inter- 
vals, depots  were  not  provided  for  passengers,  etc.  Five  trains 
daily  each  way  seems  to  have  been  the  limit  of  service  given.  Some 
of  the  citizens  of  Tropico  found  it  possible  to  travel  between  their 
homes  and  Los  Angeles  by  the  Southern  Pacific  trains,  but  as  these 
were  not  calculated  to  cater  to  local  travel,  the  service  could  not  be 
relied  upon  by  the  "commuters."  The  fact  that  the  Salt  Lake  com- 
pany's depot  was  on  the  further  side  of  the  river  in  Los  Angeles 
from  the  business  center,  also  tended  to  make  travel  by  that  road  un- 
satisfactory. 

So  it  came  about  that  the  Glendale  Improvement  Association  on 
June  24.  1902,  appointed  a  Railroad  committee  on  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  E.  \V.  Pack,  at  that  time  conducting  the  lumber  yard  on  Glen- 
dale Avenue;  the  committee  consisted  of  E.  W.  Pack,  J.  L.  Whitaker, 
W.  P.  Penn,  P.  W.  Parker  and  J.  A.  Merrill. 

Mr.  E.  D.  Goode  was  at  this  time  secretary  of  the  Improvement 
Association.  He  was  county  road  superintendent,  a  resident  of  Glen- 
dale and  about  this  time  began  his  work  as  a  successful  railroad  pro- 
moter and  builder.  The  railroad  committee  named  above  did  not 
long  continue  in  office  and  confined  its  work  to  efforts  to  get  better 
service  from  the  Salt  Lake  company.  Mr.  Goode,  however,  seems 
to  have  been  active  about  this  time  in  an  effort  to  get  an  electric  road 
into  the  valley  and  we  find  him  working  later  with  Mr.  L.  C.  Brand, 
in  securing  rights  of  way,  particularly  within  Los  Angeles  city. 

On  March  27.  1903,  a  special  meeting  of  the  Improvement  As- 
sociation was  held  in  Ayers  Hall,  to  discuss  a  proposition  made  by 
Mr.  Brand.  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt  presided  at  the  meeting  which  was  also 
attended  by  large  delegations  from  Eagle  Rock  and  Tropico.  We 
quote  from  the  minutes  of  the  meeting:  "The  secretary  read  a  docu- 
ment signed  by  the  cashier  of  the  Merchants  National  Bank  of  Los 
Angeles,  and  L.  C.  Brand,  which  stated  that  L.  C.  Brand  had  de- 
posited with  the  bank  a  certified  check  for  ten  thousand  dollars  to 
be  forfeited  to  the  Glendale  and  Tropico  Improvement  Associations 
if  an  electric  road  is  not  in  operation  within  six  months,  provided 
the  people  of  the  valley  furnish  the  necessary  rights  of  way."  In  the 
meantime  the  Tropico  Improvement  Association  had  also  been  agi- 
tating the  railroad  question  and  had  appointed  a  railroad  committee 
consisting  of  Mr.  Otto  Snyder,  president  of  the  association,  M.  M. 
Eshelman,  Dvvight  Griswold,  Joseph  Kirkham,  R.  G.  Doyle,  John 
Hobbs  and  S.  L.  Borthick  to  further  the  project.  Reverting  to  the 
minutes  of  the  Glendale  association:  "On  motion  of  Mr.  Taylor, 
seconded  by  E.  T.  Byram,  a  committee  of  five  including  the  president 
of  the  association  (Dr.  Hunt)  be  appointed  by  the  chairman  to  co- 
operate with  the  Tropico  committee  in  obtaining  the  desired  right  of 
way.    The  members  of  the  committee  were  named  as  follows:    J.  A. 


98  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Merrill,  H.  C.  Goodell,  E.  D.  Goode.  F.  G.  Taylor  with  the  chair- 
man." From  this  time  forward  progress  was  marked,  but  many  dif- 
ficult matters  were  encountered  in  obtaining  rights  of  way  that  re- 
quired the  expenditure  of  time,  patience  and  money. 

Previous  to  all  this,  Mr.  Goode  had  been  endeavoring  to  obtain 
a  franchise  from  the  city  of  Los  Angeles  for  an  electric  road.  His 
petition  was  turned  down  by  the  council  in  the  latter  part  of  1902, 
the  councilmen  claiming  to  be  harassed  by  the  fear  that  the  appli- 
cation was  merely  a  "blind"  covering  the  designs  of  some  other  rail- 
road company  to  secure  a  right  of  way  to  Pasadena  by  way  of  Glen- 
dale.  Attorney  Frank  James,  speaking  for  Mr.  Goode,  was  quoted 
in  the  Los  Angeles  Times  of  January.  1903,  as  saying:  "Mr.  Goode 
has  been  working  to  secure  an  electric  railway  fmrn  Glendale  to  Los 
Angeles  for  a  number  of  years.  He  has  tried  to  persuade  the  Pacific 
Electric  Railroad  company  and  the  Los  Angeles  Traction  company 
to  build,  but  neither  of  them  would  be  persuaded.  Now  he  has  de- 
termined to  form  a  companj'  and  build  it  himself."  One  of  the  dif- 
ficulties in  the  way  also  was  the  fact  that  the  proposed  route  of  way 
lay  through  the  edge  of  GrifTith  Park  which  fact  would  compel  the 
road,  if  built,  to  furnish  transportation  within  the  city  limits  to  and 
from  the  park  for  five  cents.  Goode  finally  gave  up  effort  to  get  a 
franchise  in  his  own  name  and  pooled  his  interests  with  Mr.  Brand. 
The  survey  was  changed,  a  franchise  was  obtained  from  the  Arcade 
Depot  to  Sunset  Boulevard  and  another  from  the  latter  point  to  Grif- 
fith Park.  The  change  in  survey  made  it  possible  to  get  to  the  river 
without  crossing  the  park  as  at  first  proposed.  From  the  river  into 
Glendale  the  joint  committees  of  the  Improvement  Associations  of 
Glendale  and  Tropico  undertook  the  task  of  securing  the  rest  of  the 
rights  of  way.  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt  was  the  i)resident  of  the  Glendale 
association  and  Mr.  O.  P.  Synder  was  at  the  head  of  the  Tropico  body. 
One  piece  of  property  on  the  pro])osed  route  between  Tropico  Av- 
enue and  Cypress  Streets,  was  occupied  by  a  house  and  other  im- 
provements and  caused  the  committee  much  trouble  but  the  way  was 
finally  secured  through  it  by  the  payment  of  $4,000,  jointly  assumed 
and  finally  provided  for,  by  the  two  associations.  The  rights  of  way 
were  issued  in  the  name  of  Mr.  Brand. 

We  find  it  noted  in  the  Glendale  News  of  this  time  that  in  April 
the  survey  for  the  road  had  been  made  west  of  the  High  .School,  but 
Mr.  Brand  promises  to  have  survey  run  nearer  Cllendalc  to  secure  the 
cooperation  of  the  people.  On  May  fifth  Mr.  Goode  rei)orted  to  the 
Improvement  Association  that  the  rights  of  way  had  mostly  been 
secured  but  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  raise  $4,000.  By  May 
nineteenth  there  only  remained  one  piece  of  land  to  be  secured.  At 
the  same  time  report  was  made  that  Harris  and  Merrill  had  signed 
for  $500.  Messrs.  Leavitt  and  Kanouse  were  added  to  the  com- 
mittee at  this  time. 

On  August  fourth  Mr.  Goode  reported  that  the  proposed  route 
had  been  slightly  changed,  to  run  straight  down  the  valley  behind 
the  Tropico  school  house.  On  October  first  Mr.  Goode  reported  that 
there  remained  to  be  collected  about  $400  from  each  of  the  associa- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  9\) 

tions.  The  Tropico  association  had  endorsed  the  name  of  "Brand 
Boulevard"  for  the  thoroughfare  in  the  center  of  which  the  road 
was  to  be  built.  Some  time  later  the  Glendale  Association  supported 
this  suggestion  as  to  the  name  of  the  street.  On  January  7,  1904,  Mr. 
Goode  reported  that  there  remained  to  be  collected  cmly  $75.(X)  which 
would  be  paid  after  the  completion  of  the  road. 

The  right  of  way  having  been  secured  the  work  of  construction 
was  pushed  rapidly  and  on  Sunday,  April  6,  1904,  the  first  electric 
car  ran  through  Tropico  and  on  to  its  Glendale  terminus,  this  date 
marking  the  beginning  of  an  era  during  which  the  wonderful  de- 
velopment of  the  "Fastest  growing  city  in  America"  became  an  his- 
torical fact.  On  April  first  a  committee  was  appointed  to  arrange  for 
a  proper  celebration  of  the  completion  of  the  electric  railroad  to 
Glendale.  "to  take  place  when  the  cars  shall  commence  running  to 
Glendale  Avenue,  the  proposed  terminus  of  the  line."  The  com- 
mittee consisted  of  E.  D.  Goode,  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt.  Mr.  E.  V.  Wil- 
liams, Mrs.  Lillian  S.  Wells  (then  secretary  of  the  Improvement  .\s- 
sociation)  and  J.  C.  Sherer.  A  similar  committee  was  later  ajipointed 
by  the  Tropico  Association,  the  two  acting  jointly. 

The  Glendale  Improvement  Association  held  a  meeting  on  July 
1,  1904,  and  Mr.  Goode  made  a  report  on  preparations  fi)r  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  completion  of  the  railroad,  to  be  held  on  the  morrow. 
These  preparations  consisted  of  the  purchase  of  two  or  three  beeves 
for  the  barbecue,  the  securing  of  the  services  of  Mr.  K.  G.  Doyle  and 
a  celebrated  Mexican  expert  to  prepare  the  same,  with  a  barrel  of 
pickles  and  a  large  quantity  of  bread,  etc.  Barrels  of  lemonade  had 
been  donated  by  citizens  and  cofTee  was  to  be  served  in  abundance. 
The  program  prepared  by  the  committee  received  the  ap])roval  of  the 
meeting  and  a  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  Mr.  Goode  for  his  un- 
tiring efforts. 

At  the  meeting  held  on  July  fifteenth  the  final  report  of  the  cele- 
bration committee  was  made,  showing  an  expenditure  of  $250.00. 
The  celebration  held  on  July  2.  1904.  was  a  great  success  and  the 
affair  was  given  generous  publicity  by  the  Los  .\ngeles  papers. 
Mr.  J.  C.  Sherer  was  chairman  of  the  day  and  speeches  were  made 
by  the  chairman,  and  by  E.  D.  Goode,  L.  C.  Brand,  O.  P.  Snyder.  Ed- 
gar Leavitt.  Col.  Tom  C.  Thornton,  J.  McMillan  and  Francis  Murphy. 
the  noted  temperance  orator  who  happened  to  be  in  the  crowd  and 
was  called  upon  by  the  chairman. 

In  the  account  given  in  the  columns  of  the  Los  .-\ngeles  Times, 
the  chairman  is  quoted  as  saying  in  part:  "Yesterday  Tropico  cel- 
ebrated and  today  we  celebrate.  If  I  could  look  into  the  future  with 
an  eye  of  prophecy  I  would  say  that  tomorrow  Burbank  may  cele- 
brate, and  possibly  the  next  day  San  Fernando,  and  eventually  La 
Canada,  for  I  cannot  believe  that  the  road  will  stop  here  while  just 
beyond  us  lies  as  beautiful  a  country  just  as  fertile  and  populous, 
and  like  Glendale  waiting  an  outlet  and  an  electric  railway  system 
to  tie  it  to  the  world." 

Mr.  Goode  gave  an  account  of  his  experiences  in  securing  rights 
of  way  and  told  briefly  the  history  of  the  road. 


100  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Mr.  Brand  told  of  his  early  dreams  coming  true,  in  which  he 
pictured  a  country  home  in  close  proximity  to  the  city,  and  how 
these  dreams  had  finally  led  him  into  the  present  enterprise. 

Col.  Thornton  spoke  in  his  usual  eloquent  style  of  the  glories 
of  the  southland  and  painted  a  word  picture  of  its  possibilities.  Col. 
Harrison  Gray  Otis  who  had  been  invited  to  be  present,  but  was  un- 
able to  appear,  sent  a  letter  which  was  read  by  the  chairman  and  be- 
cause of  its  prophetic  character,  and  as  an  expression  of  the  views  of 
one  of  the  great  builders  of  the  state,  is  here  presented  in  full : 

"The  Bivouac,"  Los  Angeles,  July  2,  1904 
Mr.  J.  C.  Sherer,  Chairman  Valley  Celebration,  Glendale. 
Dear  Sir : — 

I  promised  myself,  as  well  as  others,  that  I  would  attend  the  cel- 
ebration in  honor  of  the  inauguration  of  electric  railway  connection 
between  your  charming  Glendale  region  and  the  city ;  but  I  will  not 
be  able  to  be  present.  My  physician  is  trying  to  hold  me  down  and 
keep  me  under  cover  for  the  next  few  weeks;  and  even  partial  obedi- 
ence to  his  commands  requires  me  to  forego  the  pleasure  which  I 
would  otherwise  have  in  meeting  with  our  friends  at  Glendale  upon 
this  pleasant  occasion. 

Spots  like  Glendale  and  Tropico,  occupying  sheltered  nooks  at 
the  base  of  the  Sierra,  with  a  southern  exposure,  where  the  "slant 
of  the  sun"  is  just  right,  where  it  is  always  afternoon,  where  the 
soil  is  of  almost  unexampled  fertility,  where  life  giving  water  is 
abundant  for  irrigation,  where  frost  is  practically  unknown,  and 
where  every  prospect  pleases — such  spots  are  rare,  save  in  this 
blessed  land  of  Southern  California,  and  they  are  certain  to  have  full 
development,  large  expansion  and  a  splendid  destiny. 

With  all  its  natural  advantages,  and  with  the  enterprise  and 
labor  of  its  keen-sighted  and  intelligent  popu,lation,  the  results 
which  I  here  anticipate  for  this  favored  valley  cannot  fail  to  ma- 
terialize. 

The  good  Lord  has  done  so  much  for  this  southern  land  of  ours 
sloping  toward  the  Pacific,  and  nurtured  by  a  never-failing  sun 
(though  with  sometimes  scant  rainfall)  that  the  destiny  of  such 
favored  spots  as  Glendale  and  Tropico  is  assured.  There  is  an 
ever-increasing  number  of  people  from  beyond  the  mountains,  and  in- 
deed from  all  parts  of  the  world,  who  are  seeking  just  such  spots  in 
which  to  plant  themselves  and  their  families  for  the  remainder  of 
their  years,  and  where  they  may  establish  surroundings  in  harmony 
with  the  higher  forms  of  civilized  life.  Communities  with  this  com- 
mon thought  in  mind,  and  working  with  a  common  end  in  view — the 
betterment  of  their  material  surroundings — can  and  will  accomplish 
great  things  in  a  comparatively  brief  period  of  time,  transforming  the 
land  from  a  state  of  nature  and  creating  happy  homes  where  none 
existed  before. 

I  can  well  understand  what  rejoicing  there  must  be  along  the 
foothills  and  in  the  valley  over  the  fortunate  conclusion  of  the  long- 
continued  and  arduous  efforts  which  patient  citizens  have  put  forth 
to  secure  the  happy  consummation  which  they  are  now  to  celebrate. 


Hraiul    HouU'v.ird   in    1')(I5   and   in    I'Jii. 


Broadway,   1-ookiiiK  Kast  t'roni  Central  Avenue. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  103 

They  say  "all  things  come  to  him  who  waits,"  hut  they  are  not  sure 
to  come  without  effort,  and  that  effort  these  citizens  have  made  in 
a  wise,  persistent  way.  I  congratulate  them  upon  their  success,  and 
rejoice  with  them  in  the  certain  and  prosperous  future  which  is  theirs. 

Large  credit  is  also  due  to  that  masterful  "captain  of  industry," 
H.  E.  Huntington,  for  his  bold  initiative  and  fearless  enterprise  in 
making  this  timely  suburban  electric  railway  connection,  which 
brings  Glendale,  Tropico  and  Los  Angeles  so  close  together,  mak- 
ing entirely  feasible  residence  in  the  country  and  business  pursuits  in 
the  city. 

No  Californian  who  knows  anything  of  the  immense  possibilities 
of  our  fertile  soil  and  famous  climate  can  doubt  what  great  things 
the  future  has  in  store  for  the  numerous  choice  spots  scattered  all 
along  our  southern  coast,  in  her  canyons  and  on  her  foothills;  and 
among  them  all  none  are  more  promising  than  those  which  will  cele- 
brate today.  Tropico  and  Glendale  have  farms,  orchards,  orange 
groves,  and  handsome  gardens  now ;  they  will  have  more  and  more 
in  the  future,  and  will  become  beauty  spots  at  the  very  gate  of  the 
city,  acquiring  importance,  attracting  visitors,  increasing  their  agri- 
cultural and  horticultural  productions,  making  home  builders  and 
cultivators  prosperous,  and  winning  fame  among  the  show  places  of 
Southern  California.  Population  will  increase  and  values  rise,  and 
the  sagacious  upbuilders  will,  I  trust,  have  the  good  sense  to  stand 
off  all  baseless  booms. 

With  congratulations  and  good  wishes  for  the  assembled  citizens 
and  visitors  who  will  come  together  on  the  propitious  occasion  today, 
and  promising  that  the  happy  valley  shall  occupy  its  proper  place  in 
the  columns  of  the  Los  Angeles  Times, 

I  remain  yours  truly, 

Harrison  Gray  Otis. 

Just  here  it  is  apropos  to  insert  an  interesting  brief  account  by 
Mr.  E.  D.  Goode  of  his  early  efforts  in  connection  with  this  road : 
"Before  I  made  application  to  the  council  of  the  City  of  Los  Angeles 
for  a  franchise,  I  secured  an  option  on  the  whole  of  Edendale,  con- 
sisting of  105  acres  at  one  hundred  dollars  per  acre  and  I  formed 
Mr.  L.  C.  Brand's  acquaintance  while  trying  to  sell  him  this  land. 
He  did  not  want  to  buy  so  I  sold  to  other  parties,  reserving  the  right 
of  way.  Just  a  year  from  that  time  Mr.  Brand  and  the  Bradshaw 
brothers  bought  this  same  land  for  two  hundred  dollars  an  acre 
and  after  I  had  been  denied  a  franchise  by  Los  Angeles.  Mr.  Brand 
then  asked  me  if  I  would  turn  over  the  right  of  way  to  other  parties 
if  they  would  agree  to  build  a  road  to  Glendale.  I  told  him  I  would, 
and  would  do  all  I  could  to  assist  any  one  who  would  build  the  road. 
A  few  months  after  this  Mr.  Brand  appeared  at  a  joint  meeting  of 
the  Glendale  and  Tropico  Improvement  Associations,  under  the  chair- 
manship of  Mr.  Snyder  at  Logan's  Hall,  Tropico,  and  agreed  to  de- 
posit the  sum  of  $10,000  in  a  Los  Angeles  bank  to  guarantee  the 
building  of  the  road  provided  we  procure  a  private  right  of  way  from 
Edendale  to  Glendale,  and  that  the  company  that  he  represented 
would  purchase  a  franchise  covering  the  streets  from  the  Southern 


104  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Pacific  depot  in  Los  Angeles,  to  Edendale.  Very  few  Glendale 
people  attended  this  meeting  but  I  was  appointed  chairman  of  a 
committee  to  secure  rights  of  way.  Other  members  of  the  committee 
were  D.  Griswold,  D.  H.  Imler,  W.  E.  Borthick,  H.  C.  Goodell,  and 
M.  M.  Eshelman. 

After  working  some  time  and  meeting  with  much  discourage- 
ment, they  all  quit  and  said  we  could  not  do  it.  Even  Mr.  Brand 
told  me  to  give  it  up,  but  I  had  secured  much  of  the  right  of  way 
and  Mr.  Brand  took  hold  again  and  went  after  the  franchise.  Finally 
I  had  all  the  right  of  way  except  between  Cypress  Street  and  Tropico 
Avenue  (now  Los  Feliz)  and  this  would  cost  $3,500  because  there 
were  two  or  three  houses  there.  Then  the  Glendale  people  woke  up 
and  a  joint  committee  of  the  two  Improvement  Associations  was 
formed  and  the  money  was  raised,  each  association  becoming  re- 
sponsible for  half  the  amount." 

Mr.  L,  C.  Brand  and  Mr.  H.  E.  Huntington  had  at  the  inception 
of  their  railroad  project  bought  175  acres  of  land  of  Judge  E.  ^L 
Ross  at  a  price  of  $225  an  acre,  this  property  being  covered  very 
largely,  by  an  orchard  of  apricot  trees,  and  lying  east  of  Columbus 
-Avenue  and  north  of  Lexington,  then  First  Street.  They  had  also 
acquired  the  Button  property  of  20  acres  and  some  other  acreage, 
most  of  it  appearing  on  maps  of  record  as  Glendale  Boulevard  Tract. 
The  road  was  constructed  up  to  Broadway,  where,  at  the  southeast 
corner  it  was  necessary  to  acquire  turning  ground  from  the  corner 
of  the  property  belonging  to  the  Union  High  School.  This  was  ob- 
tained without  much  delay  and  the  tracks  laid  up  Broadway  to 
Glendale  Avenue,  which  was  the  first  terminus.  There  was  but  little 
delay,  however,  in  continuing  the  laying  of  the  tracks  up  Brand 
Boulevard  to  the  base  of  the  mountains  at  "Casa  Verdugo,"  at  which 
point  the  company  established  a  high  class  restaurant  under  the 
management  of  Mrs.  Piedad  Yorba  de  Sowl,  which  quickly  became 
a  very  popular  resort  and  was  the  scene  of  many  social  functions  dur- 
ing the  five  years  or  so  that  the  arrangement  between  the  railroad 
company  and  Mrs.  Sowl  continued.  A  Spanish  dinner  at  "Casa  Ver- 
dugo" was  during  that  period,  one  of  the  pleasant  experiences 
which  comparatively  few  tourists  missed. 

In  May,  1911,  the  Shriners  on  the  occasion  of  their  annual  en- 
campment at  Los  Angeles  were  entertained  here;  the  capacity  of  the 
railroad  company  being  strained  to  the  utmost  to  accommodate  the 
visitors.  When  the  five  year  arrangement  between  the  company 
and  Mrs.  Sowl  expired,  a  difference  arose  between  the  parties  and  the 
latter  started  a  rival  establishment  at  her  own  home  near  by.  This 
and  the  advent  of  national  prohibition,  resulted  in  the  doing  away 
of  a  very  delightful  resort,  which  at  the  height  of  its  prosperity  was 
a  distinct  asset  to  the  valley. 

Upon  the  completion  of  the  line  to  Casa  Verdugo  the  Pacific 
Electric  acquired  a  new  terminus  and  that  section  of  Glendale  east 
of  the  main  line,  along  Broadway,  was  side  tracked.  A  small  car 
was  operated  over  the  track  between  Brand  Boulevard  and  Glendale 
Avenue  on  Broadway  until  June,  1907,  when  the  Broadway  track  was 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  105 

taken  up,  as  is  related  elsewhere  in  this  history.  When  direct 
service  from  the  main  line  to  Glendale  Avenue  was  given  up,  a  small 
one  man  car,  made  the  trip  between  Brand  Boulevard  and  the  Avenue, 
meeting  most  of  the  main  line  cars.  The  service  was  very  unsatis- 
factory and  caused  many  complaints  to  be  made,  formally  and  in- 
formally, without  mending  matters.  Notwithstanding  considerable 
bitterness  of  feeling  that  frequently  found  expression,  the  discomforts 
of  the  open  car  in  cold  and  stormy  weather  were  not  always  taken 
too  seriously  as  is  indicated  by  the  following  verses  dedicated  to 
"Maud,"  the  pet  name  of  the  little  "dummy"  car,  appearing  in  the 
Glendale  News  of  February,  1907 : 

The  Dinkey  Car 

The  snow  it  lies  on  the  mountain  top, 
And  the  liar  he  lies  elsewhere, 
And  the  dinkey  car  curtains  go  flippity  flop. 
And  the  wind  it  blows  as  'twould  never  stop, 
And    the  passengers  they  swear. 

But  the  dinkey  car  bobs  up  and  down. 
As  it  travels  to  and  fro. 
And  the  passengers  to  Glendale  town 
Clutch  tighter  yet  the  wind  swept  gown 
As  they  glance  at  the  chilly  snow. 

The  motorman  motes  as  mote  he  may, 
And  the  passengers  shiver  and  shake, 
And  the  shirt-waist  lady  who  eke  was  gay. 
Has  suddenly  ceased  to  have  aught  to  say. 
And  begins  in  her  boots  to  quake. 

Oh,  dinkey  car  that  was  surnamed  "Maud," 

Come  back  to  your  loving  crew; 

You  had  faults  'tis  true  and  we  called  you  fraud. 

Your  virtues  we  ever  forgot  to  laud. 

But  there  were  two  sides  to  you ! 

And  the  next  day  it  snowed! 

Maud,  indeed  seems  to  have  been  potent  with  inspiration,  for  the 
above  was  succeeded  shortly  by  another  poetic  outburst  on  the  part 
of  the  editor,  as  follows : 

Lo,  here  is  Maud  ! 
Mark  you  her  graceful  poise; 
Fourteen  small  girls  and  boys 
Crowded,  can  ride  her. 
Never  a  mule  or  car 
Swift  as  her  jerklets  are; 
Comets  and  lightnings  flash, 
Slow  are  beside  her. 


106  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Bow  ye  the  knee  in  praise, 
For  small  mercies  thankful; 
Ended  Maud's  useful  days — 
Tears  shed,  a  tank  full. 

Upon  the  completion  of  the  Pacific  Electric  road,  the  Salt  Lake 
Company  ceased  to  attempt  to  give  Glendale  passengers  carrying 
service  and  from  that  time  up  to  the  present  has  maintained  its  tracks 
for  freight  carrying  purposes  only,  its  patronage  coming  from  the 
lumber  yards  on  Glendale  Avenue  and  from  the  products  of  the 
orange  and  lemon  orchards  of  the  Sparr  company  near  Montrose  and 
those  of  Messrs.  Ross  and  Thorn  within  the  original  Glendale  city 
limits. 

Mr.  E.  D.  Goode  did  not  cease  his  efforts  at  railroad  building 
upon  the  completion  of  the  electric  road,  for  we  find  him  active 
again  in  1907  in  an  effort  to  induce  the  Los  Angeles  Railway  Com- 
pany to  construct  a  line  into  Glendale  from  its  Eagle  Rock  line  at 
the  crossing  of  Verdugo  Road.  He  was  so  far  successful  that  in 
October,  1907,  he  secured  from  that  company  an  agreement  to  build 
northward  along  the  Verdugo  Road  into  Glendale  provided  that  a 
private  right  of  way  should  be  furnished  in  addition  to  a  bonus  of 
$17,500.  Of  this  sum  the  owner  of  the  old  Workman  ranch  (Saga- 
more Hills)  agreed  under  certain  conditions  to  contribute  $11,000. 
After  a  great  deal  of  hard  work  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Goode,  assisted 
by  a  committee  of  Glendale  citizens,  arrangements  were  made  for 
practically  the  entire  right  of  way  which  was  to  follow  the  center 
of  Verdugo  Road  to  a  point  north  of  Broadway  thence  westward 
to  Belmont  street  between  Broadway  and  Wilson.  Success  seemed 
almost  certain  when  a  difference  in  regard  to  details  arose  between 
the  railroad  company  and  the  principal  contributor  to  the  bonus 
fund,  and  the  project  had  to  be  abandoned. 

When  this  scheme  failed,  the  indefatigable  Goode  turned  his 
attention  to  building  a  railroad  between  Eagle  Rock  and  Glendale. 
Assisted  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Blackburn  he  secured  a  private  right  of  way 
along  Third  Street  (now  Wilson  Avenue)  in  Glendale  and  on  into 
Eagle  Rock.  He  had  all  the  experiences  that  a  man  may  rely  upon 
encountering  when  he  tries  to  build  a  railroad  without  money,  but 
he  thought  that  with  the  road  actually  in  operation  he  could  get 
either  the  Los  Angeles  or  the  Pacific  Electric  Company  to  take  it 
over;  but  in  this  he  was  disappointed,  as  the  fact  was  quite  satis- 
factorily demonstrated  in  all  these  various  efforts  to  get  better  rail- 
road facilities  that  these  two  companies  did  not  intend  to  enter 
into  competition  with  each  other,  either  on  account  of  a  gentle- 
men's agreement  to  this  eifect,  or  an  even  more  definite  contract 
as  to  the  division  of  territory. 

The  Los  Angeles  Railway  Company  did,  however,  demonstrate 
its  friendliness  to  the  persistent  amateur  at  railroad  construction  in 
many  ways,  loaning  him  its  engineers  and  assisting  him  in  securing 
material  which  had  to  be  paid  for,  although  the  prices  were  very  rea- 
sonable and  this  necessitated  borrowing  money  of  the  local  bank.    The 


6LENDALE  AND  VICINITY  107 

rails  for  instance  for  this  two  miles  of  road  cost  $5,000  cash;  the  grad- 
ing was  $700  and  ties  cost  25  cents  apiece.  Then  a  car  had  to  be 
bought  at  $2,500  and  arrangements  made  with  the  power  company  to 
furnish  electricity  which  was  metered  out  at  reasonable  rates. 

The  builder  had  $3,500  in  sight  which  he  was  to  secure  upon  the 
completion  of  the  road  but  it  can  he  readily  seen  that  his  margin  of 
profit  was  exceedingly  small.  The  road  was  completed  and  the  first 
car  run  over  it  between  Eagle  Rock  and  Glendale  March  12,  1909. 
Four  days  afterwards  at  the  skating  rink  on  Glendale  Avenue,  just 
below  Broadway,  there  was  a  fitting  celebration  of  the  event  and 
Mr.   Goode   was   properly  honored   for   his  achievement. 

About  this  time  Messrs.  Pirtle  and  Glassell  acquired  Verdugo 
Park  and  being  desirou.s  of  putting  it  in  closer  relations  as  far  as 
transportation  was  concerned  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  they  had 
endeavored  unsuccessfully  to  induce  the  Salt  Lake  Company  to 
electrize  its  track  to  that  place.  Failing  in  that  they  applied  to 
Mr.  Goode  to  come  to  their  assistance,  oiTering  him  $20,000  for  an 
electric  road.  This  sounded  well  to  the  railroad  builder  and  he  again 
started  on  a  new  project. 

On  May  9,  1910,  we  find  that  the  supervisors  of  the  county  were 
considering  the  application  of  Mr.  Goode  for  a  franchise  up  Verdugo 
Road  from  the  Glendale  city  limits,  then  about  Doran  Street,  to  Ver- 
dugo Park.  They  concluded,  however,  that  the  county  road  should 
not  be  given  over  to  this  use  and  refused  his  petition.  Next  we  find 
him  in  possession  of  deeds  giving  him  a  private  right  of  way  over 
the  property  of  Judge  Ross  and  Captain  C.  E.  Thom.  The  Salt  Lake 
Company  then  came  into  court  desiring  to  be  protected  from  Glen- 
dale's  Harriman,  complaining  that  he  was  encroaching  upon  its  right 
of  way.  The  railroad  company's  complaint  stated  that  Goode  had 
begun  grading  on  June  fifth;  their  complaint  does  not  seem  to  have 
stopped  his  work  for  within  thirty  days  from  that  time  the  road 
was  completed. 

The  vicissitudes  of  a  railroad  builder  are  best  set  forth  in  Mr. 
Goode's  own  words :  "The  arrangement  was  that  they  should  pay 
me  $5,000  thirty  days  after  completion  of  the  road,  and  the  balance 
in  sixty  days  and  ninety  days.  To  secure  me  they  delivered  to  me 
bonds  of  the  Glendale  Consolidated  Water  Company,  with  a  face 
value  of  $30,000.  I  put  these  bonds  in  escrow  and  was  able  to  borrow 
money  to  buy  rails  and  other  materials.  I  was  enjoined  by  the  Salt 
Lake  Company  and  the  trial  cost  me  $500.  The  court  finally  en- 
joined me  from  building  within  thirteen  and  one-half  foot  centers. 
I  had  to  get  the  road  completed  by  July  fourth.  The  engineer  of 
the  Los  Angeles  Company  told  me  it  would  be  impossible  to  do  it, 
that  they  would  not  attempt  to  do  it  themselves,  but  I  went  ahead. 
They  let  me  have  a  crew  of  twenty  men  under  one  'Pat'  as  fore- 
man. The  Fourth  of  July  came  on  Monday.  On  Sunday  morning  of 
the  third  we  were  within  a  quarter  mile  of  the  finish  and  going  ahead 
fine.  Then  along  came  some  Italians  with  a  jug  of  'Dago  Red' 
which  got  mixed  up  with  my  track  laying  crew  in  a  scandalous 
manner.      All    work   stopped   and    I    was   scared,    but    the   foreman 


108  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

wasn't  altogether  overseas  and  I  told  him  that  if  the  road  wasn't 
completed  on  time  there  would  be  no  money  for  any  of  them.  He 
finally  got  the  men  straightened  out  and  to  work  and  by  8  o'clock 
on  the  fourth  we  completed  the  job. 

"In  the  meantime  the  bonds  I  had  to  secure  me  depreciated  fifty 
per  cent.  Instead  of  receiving  five  thousand  at  the  end  of  30  days 
as  promised,  I  received  $1,000.  They  paid  me  along  in  driblets 
until  I  had  received  about  $12,000  of  the  $20,000.  They  finally  gave 
me  notes  for  $8,000  and  I  surrendered  the  bonds.  Of  these  notes 
$3,000  came  back  on  me  for  payment  to  the  bank  that  had  ac- 
cepted them  and  I  had  to  mortgage  everything  I  had  to  take  care 
of  them.  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  railroad  building  without 
money  in  hand  wasn't  a  good  game  for  me  and  I  went  to  Imperial 
Valley  and  went  to  raising  cotton." 

From  June,  1907,  to  January,  1910,  there  was  no  cross  town 
railroad  connecting  Glendale  Avenue  and  the  eastern  section  of  Glen- 
dale  with  the  electric  railway  on  Brand  Boulevard,  and  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Goode  electric  road  connecting  Glendale  and  Eagle 
Rock  went  far  toward  bridging  over  the  gap  that  had  retarded  the 
development  of  the  city.  During  this  interval  of  two  and  a  half 
years,  Mr.  T.  W.  Watson  and  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Reed,  con- 
ducted a  'bus  service  between  the  two  sides  of  the  city,  at  pre-war 
prices,  a  round  trip  for  five  cents.  This  was  not  a  financial  success 
for  its  enterprising  backers,  however,  and  it  left  much  to  be  de- 
sired as  a  "public  utility."  In  October,  1913,  the  Pacific  Electric 
Company  applied  for  another  franchise  over  Broadway  to  Glendale 
Avenue  and  the  ordinance  granting  the  same  was  passed  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees  on  November  4,  1913. 

It  was  in  1914  that  the  Pacific  Electric  Company  resumed  ser- 
vice between  Brand  Boulevard  and  Glendale  Avenue  and  about  six 
months  later  the  tracks  were  laid  and  service  extended  east  to  the 
"Childs  Tract  line"  opposite  the  Broadway  grammar  school  build- 
ing. This  extension  was  part  of  a  project  to  construct  a  loop  line 
by  building  southward  from  the  school  house  to  the  base  of  the 
hills  and  thence  westward  to  connect  with  the  main  line  at  Tropico 
Avenue.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  had  appointed  a  Railroad  Com- 
mittee to  secure  this  extension  as  the  railroad  company  had  prom- 
ised to  build  it  provided  that  the  right  of  way  was  furnished.  The 
committee  put  in  a  great  deal  of  hard  work  and  raised  several  thou- 
sand dollars  for  the  project,  purchasing  several  pieces  of  property 
for  the  right  of  way,  but  the  outbreak  of  the  war  and  a  combination 
of  adverse  circumstances  delayed  and  finally  caused  a  failure  of  the 
plan,  after  it  had  dragged  over  a  space  of  four  or  five  years. 

In  1922  the  railroad  company  established  an  auto  bus  line  con- 
necting both  the  east  and  the  west  sides  of  the  city  with  the  main 
line  at  Tropico  Avenue,  thus  completing  a  system  that  very  satis- 
factorily serves  the  people  of  Glendale  with  traveling  facilities  in 
marked  contrast  with  the  era  when  dust,  mud  or  chuck  holes  marked 
the  highways  over  which  the  pioneers  drove  their  horses  at  a  gait 


Nortl 


(JraiiKf  Street,   Looking   North   I'roni   Wilson 
Street,  aljout  1906.  and  in   1922, 


GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY  111 

which   was   kept   by   these   conditions   well   within    the  limit   of  any 
existing  speed  laws. 

PERMIT  BY  COUNTY  OF  LOS  ANGELES  TO  LOS  ANGELES 

AND  GLENDALE  RAILROAD,  GRANTED  FEBRUARY 

14,  1887,  M.  B.  9,367 

On  motion  of  Supervisor  Martin  the  prayer  of  the  petition  was 
granted  and  the  following  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted : 

WHEREAS,  the  Los  Angeles  &  Glendale  R.  R.'Co.,  a  corpora- 
tion duly  organized  under  the  laws  of  the  state  of  California  desire  to 
build,  construct  and  establish  a  railroad  as  hereinafter  described; 
and  WHEREAS  it  appears  by  the  signature  of  numerous  persons  that 
nearly  all  the  property  owners  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  railroad 
desire  the  same  to  be  built;  and  WHEREAS  it  appears  that  such 
railroad  will  greatly  benefit  the  public  and  said  property  owners  as 
well,  and  that  the  establishment  of  such  railroad  is  consistent  with 
the  use  of  such  highways;  NOW,  THEREFORE.  BE  IT  RE- 
SOLVED by  the  said  Board  of  Supervisors  of  L.  A.  Co.,  California, 
that  said  board  consent  that  the  L.  A.  &  Glendale  R.  R.  Co..  or  its  as- 
signs, may  construct,  lay  down  and  operate  one  single  line  of  iron  or 
steel  railroad  track  and  run  cars  thereon  moved  by  steam,  cable  or 
electric  power,  with  the  privilege  of  changing  same  from  a  single  to 
a  double  track  whenever  the  said  corporation  or  its  assigns  may  deem 
the  same  expedient,  and  carry  freight  and  passengers  thereon  for  the 
period  of  fifty  years  from  the  date  of  the  passage  hereof  along  the  pub- 
lic highways  or  streets,  viz.  :  Commencing  at  the  new  town  of  Glen- 
dale and  running  thence  southerly  along  Crow  Avenue  to  the  intersec- 
tion with  the  San  Fernando,  thence  along  San  Fernando  Road  to  its 
intersection  with  Cypress  Street  at  the  northern  boundary  of  L.  A. 
City,  with  the  right  to  construct  necessary  switches,  curves,  turnouts 
and  side  tracks.  It  being  understood  that  throughout  the  entire 
description  the  center  of  the  street,  or  a  line  as  near  thereto  as  pos- 
sible, is  intended.  Provided  and  upon  condition  that  the  construc- 
tion of  said  road  shall  be  commenced  within  sixty  days  from  the 
date  of  passage  hereof  and  shall  be  finally  completed,  equipped, 
stocked  and  in  running  order  over  the  entire  line  of  said  road  within 
one  year  from  date  of  passage  hereof.  It  being  understood  that  this 
privilege  shall  be  forfeited  by  the  grantee  herein  on  account  of  a 
failure  to  complete  the  said  road  which,  at  the  expiration  of  said 
one  year,  shall  remain  and  l)e  unfinished,  leaving  the  privilege  to  that 
portion  of  said  road  completed  and  in  running  order  unaffected  by 
such   failure. 

Provided  further,  that  in  case  the  cars  on  said  road  when  com- 
pleted and  in  running  order  shall  be  propelled  by  electricity  as  the 
motive  power,  then  and  in  such  case  the  wires  furnishing  the  same 
shall  be  placed  under  ground.  .And  provided  further  that  said  builder 
or  builders  of  said  road  shall  grade  or  macadamize  or  otherwise  im- 
prove the  entire  length  of  said  route  along  which  said  road  may  be 
constructed  between  the  rails  and  for  two  feet  on  each  side  thereof. 


112  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

so  as  to  form  a  road  bed  as  good  as  the  remainder  of  the  road  beyond 
the  rails  whenever  ordered  to  do  so  by  the  said  Board  of  Supervisors, 
and  shall  keep  the  same  constantly  in  repair,  flush  with  the  street 
and  provided  with  good  crossings  both  at  present  crossings  and 
wherever  roads  shall  be  made  to  cross  said  railroad,  and  provided 
that  the  tracks  shall  not  be  more  than  five  feet  wide  within  the  rails 
and  there  be  a  space  between  the  main  tracks  and  the  side  tracks  or 
turn  outs  to  allow  cars  to  pass  each  other  freely  and  without  danger. 

Provided  further,  that  the  laying  of  said  track  shall  in  all  cases 
conform,  when  any  part  of  said  road  has  been  or  shall  be  graded,  to 
an  established  grade  shall  be  changed  or  altered,  the  bed  of  the  road 
and  the  track  shall  be  made  to  conform  therewith. 

Provided  further  that  the  said  builder  of  said  road  shall  provide 
said  railroad  with  all  the  proper  and  necessary  flumes  and  culverts 
for  the  passage  of  water  under  said  tracks  or  road  bed  whenever 
and  wherever  said  Board  of  Supervisors  or  its  successors  shall  order 
said  flumes  and  culverts  to  be  placed. 

Provided  further,  that  the  said  builder  of  said  road  shall  provide 
sewer,  macadamize,  pave,  improve,  alter  or  repair  all  or  either  of 
said  highways  or  any  part  thereof,  and  to  pipe  the  same  for  gas,  water 
or  other  purposes,  such  work  to  be  done  with  as  little  injury  as  pos- 
sible to  said  railroad,  but  when  work  shall  make  it  necessary,  the 
owners  of  said  road  must  shift  the  rails  so  as  to  avoid  obstructions 
made  thereby. 

Provided  further,  that  the  rate  of  fare  for  passengers  on  said  rail- 
road shall  never  exceed  ten  cents. 

The  said  Board  of  Supervisors  reserves  the  right  to  establish 
at  any  time  a  fare  not  exceeding  ten  cents  and  not  less  than  five 
cents. 

The  rights  and  privileges  given  by  this  resolution  are  granted 
by  this  resolution  on  each  and  all  of  the  above  conditions  and  pro- 
visions, and  if  the  said  grantee  or  its  assigns  shall  fail  to  comply  there- 
with or  any  part  thereof,  all  of  said  rights  and  i)rivileges  shall  be  for- 
feited and  shall  be  void  except  as  herein  provided. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  WATER  QUESTION 

SOURCES  OF  SUPPLY  FOR  THE  RANCHO  SAN  RAFAEL.  ORIGINAL 
DISTRIBUTION  BY  DITCHES.  PARTITION  MADE  BY  DECREE  OF  1871. 
FORMATION  OF  WATER  DISTRIBUTING  COMPANIES.  VERDUGO 
CANYON  WATER  COMPANY.  LITIGATION.  EXTRACTS  FROM  COURT 
DECREES.    DEVELOPMENT  WORK.    QUANTITY  AND  VALUE. 

In  all  the  countries  of  the  world  depending  on  irrigation,  the 
trite  statement  that  Water  is  King,  holds  true  today  as  it  did  in  the 
beginnings  of  civilization  and  as  it  will  until  the  time  crimes  in  a 
future  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped  is  far  distant,  when  a  limited  supply 
is  unequal  to  an  insatiable  demand  and  the  gardens  will  become 
deserts  as  it  was  in  the  beginning.  Those  founders  of  our  Pacific 
Coast  civilization,  the  wise  Franciscan  fathers,  made  sure  before 
establishing  their  missions  that  there  was  a  supply  of  living  water 
near  at  hand.  And  the  settlers  on  the  great  ranchos  also  never 
failed  to  assure  themselves  of  a  su])ply  of  the  life-giving  requisite. 
And  so  it  was  that  the  San  Rafael  Ranch  dipped  at  the  southwest 
corner  into  the  Los  Angeles  river;  had  the  Arroyo  Seco  (not  always 
dry)  on  the  east  and  the  never  failing  mountain  streams  of  Verdugo 
Canyon  on  the  north.  One  of  the  earl)-  names  of  the  ranch  was 
"La  Zanja,"  which  would  seem  to  indicate  that  at  the  time  of  the 
grant,  a  zanja,  or  water  ditch,  was  one  of  its  noticeable  features,  al- 
though it  is  difficult  to  imagine  who  at  that  early  date  had  occasion 
to  construct  an  artificial  water  course,  except  the  one  that  tapped 
the  river  at  the  "Narrows,"  and  continuing  down  to  the  pueblo,  sup- 
plied the  needs  of  its  inhabitants. 

This,  however,  would  not  be  a  feature  of  the  ranch  which  lay 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  Probably  the  first  legal  contest 
over  water  in  the  state  that  reached  the  higher  courts  was  the  one 
heard  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  in  1855,  in  which  Mathew 
W.  Irwin  sued  Robert  Phillips  for  diversion;  but  from  that  time 
until  the  present  it  is  probable  that  the  Supreme  Court  calendar 
has  rarely  been  cleared  of  contests  over  this  vital  problem.  And  the 
courts  of  the  Pacific  coast  had  to  blaze  the  way  on  this  subject  and 
set  their  own  precedents,  as  the  common  law  which  the  courts  can 
so  frequently  and  conveniently  fall  back  upon,  when  other  resources 
fail,  is  silent  upon  the  subject,  for  it  dealt  with  conditions  exactly  the 
reverse  of  those  that  exist  in  a  dry  country,  applying  as  it  did  to  a 
land  where  there  is  a  surplus  of  water  instead  of  a  lack  of  it. 

Quite  early  in  its  history  the  Pueblo  had  some  trouble  with  the 
padres  at  the  San  Fernando  Mission  over  the  diversion  of  the  river 
waters,  and  probably  there  were  frequent  contests  in  the  local  courts 


114  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

over  this  subject.  And  no  doubt  the  courts  had  many  a  time  to 
pass  upon  and  punish  offenders  who  attempted  to  settle  their  disputes 
over  water  out  of  court.  Conditions  as  late  as  1871  when  the  decree 
of  partition  of  the  ranch  was  signed,  were  in  great  contrast  with  the 
present  time.  At  that  time  there  was  comparatively  little  water  deliv- 
ered under  pressure  for  irrigation  purposes  anywhere  and  it  is 
noticeable  in  the  proceedings  in  this  case  that  the  commissioners 
and  the  court  had  in  mind  at  all  times,  the  delivery  of  water  by  open 
ditch  as  had  been  the  custom  in  irrigated  countries  from  time  imme- 
morial. Although  the  houses  were  not  so  numerous  at  that  time 
as  to  threaten  congestion,  it  was  not  always  praticable  to  build  by 
a  living  stream  and  the  country  was  crisscrossed  by  small  ditches 
constructed  so  as  to  carry  the  water  by  gravity  to  the  door  of  almost 
every  householder  whether  his  domicile  was  a  pretentious  adobe  or 
a  mere  jacale,  or  house  of  brush.  To  the  careless  eye  these  ditches 
along  the  highways  appeared  to  disregard  in  many  cases  the  law  of 
gravitation,  as  there  were  instances  where  a  water  course  on  one 
side  of  the  road  carried  the  water  eastward,  while  on  the  opposite 
side  a  stream  flowed  west;  or  north  and  south  respectively,  as  the 
case  might  be. 

On  March  21,  1870,  a  complaint  was  filed  in  the  District  Court 
of  Los  Angeles  by  A.  B.  Chapman,  Andrew  Glassell,  P.  Beaudry 
and  O.  W.  Childs  against  Fernando  Sepulveda,  his  wife  and  a  long 
list  of  other  defendants,  owners  of  land  in  the  Rancho  San  Rafael 
who  claimed  and  held  possession  of  the  property  they  occupied  under 
various  kinds  of  titles,  in  some  cases  contradictory  in  their  nature. 
The  complaint  starts  out  by  the  statement  that  the  defendants  are 
tenants  in  common  and  owners  in  fee  simple  to  a  tract  of  land 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Sierra  Madre,  east  by  the  Arroyo  Hondo, 
south  by  Los  Angeles  river,  and  west  by  lands  belonging  in  1861  to 
J.  R.  Scott  (comprising  two  ranches).  It  then  goes  on  to  state  that 
one  C.  V.  Howard,  also  having  a  defendant's  interest,  died  in  Febru- 
ary, 1869;  that  certain  parties  had  claims,  the  validity  of  which  the 
complainants  were  unable  to  determine,  and  asks  for  a  full  and  com- 
plete partition.  Glassell,  Chapman  and  Smith  were  the  lawyers  for 
the  complainants. 

To  fully  investigate  all  of  the  claims  in  the  ranch  and  make  a 
recommendation  to  the  Court,  the  following  commissioners  were 
appointed  :  J.  H.  Landers,  A.  W.  Hutton  and  Benjamin  Eaton,  The 
two  first  named  were  lawyers  and  the  last  an  engineer,  the  father 
of  Fred  Eaton,  a  former  mayor  of  Los  Angeles.  The  first  act  of  the 
commissioners  was  to  secure  the  services  of  a  surveyor,  Frank  Le- 
couver,  under  whose  direction  a  complete  survey  of  the  properties 
involved  was  made.  The  commissioners  were  empowered  to  take 
testimony  of  witnesses  and  practically  given  all  the  powers  of  a 
court  of  law,  except  as  to  rendering  final  judgment.  The  work  done 
by  them  was  stupendous  and  their  findings  were  so  complete  and 
equitable  that  although  attacked  legally  from  more  than  one  angle, 
were  fully  upheld  by  the  court  and  the  interested  reader  of  this 
ancient  history  as  set  forth  in  the  voluminous  collection  of  papers 


GLENDALE  AND  \'ICINITY  115 

on  file  must  be  impressed  with  the  apparent  thoroughness  and  indus- 
trious work  of  this  commission  that  a  half  century  ago  established 
the  title  of  the  thousands  of  owners  who  at  this  date  occupy  in  indis- 
putable possession  the  rich  heritage  of  the  untitled  "soldier  of  the 
King"  who  claimed  it  all  for  his  own.  There  were  reserved  from  this 
partition  the  lands  belonging  to  D.  Burbank,  W.  C.  B.  Richardson, 
Glassell  &  Chapman  and  the  acreage  of  Hunter  and  Hendrickson. 

Of  La  Canada  the  report  says :  On  west  of  San  Rafael  is  large 
body  of  mountain  land.  9.122.71  acres,  marked  on  map.  Verdugo 
Mountains,  undivided.  This  land  is  without  definite  value  and  unless 
it  contains  minerals,  not  known  to  exist,  is  almost  valueless.  Recom- 
mend that  this  be  sold  and  divided. 

The  acreage  allotted  bv  the  commission  is  as  follows :  C.  E. 
Thorn,  579.67;  P.  Beaudry, '500.50;  Rafaela  Verdugo  de  Sepulveda, 
909;  Maria  Sepulveda  de  Sanchez,  212.3;  Maria  Catalina  Verdugo, 
208.82;  C.  E.  Thom,  30.92;  Glassell  &  Chapman,  without  division,  the 
whole  of  Rancho  Canada,  5,745  and  2,296;  Benjamin  Dreyfus,  8,424.35; 
P.  Beaudry,  1,702.64;  F.  P.  Ramirez,  310.01;  O.  W.  Childs,  371.60; 
Ma.  Antonia  de  Chabolla,  8;  Ch.  Verdugo,  8;  Fernando  Verdugo, 
7.84;  Pedro  \'erdugo,  7.83;  Jose  Maria  Verdugo,  7.82;  Quirino  Ver- 
dugo, 7.82;  Rafael  Verdugo,  7.83;  Guil.  Verdugo,  7.81;  Vittorio  Ver- 
dugo, 7.84.  The  last  eight  named  above  were  the  sons  of  Julio,  com- 
prising all  of  them  except  Teodoro  who  was  elsewhere  provided  for  in 
the  canyon  lands  by  transfer  from  Catalina,  his  aunt.  The  daughter, 
Rafaela,  the  wife  of  Fernando  Sepulveda,  had  also  her  portion  in  the 
land  deeded  to  him.  The  other  daughter.  Antonia,  married  to  Cha- 
bolla. had  a  portion  similar  to  that  given  the  sons  as  mentioned 
above. 

The  above  does  not  include  the  acreage  held  by  Catalina  and 
Teodoro  in  common  in  \'erdugo  Canyon,  alluded  to  hereafter  in  the 
partition  of  the  water.  The  prime  importance  of  the  water  supply  is 
set  forth  as  follows:  Your  referees  have  carefully  considered  the 
questions  in  regard  to  water,  deeming  them  of  the  most  vital  im- 
portance to  the  parties  interested  in  the  ranches  and  in  grading  the 
lands  the  i)racticability  of  irrigation  has  entered  largely  into  the 
value  of  those  tracts  lying  most  accessible  to  the  sources  of  water 
supply  as  follows:  The  first  that  rises  in  Verdugo  Canyon  upon  the 
tract  of  land  belonging  to  Teodoro  and  Catalina  Verdugo  as  tenants 
in  common  near  the  foot  of  a  spur  running  down  from  the  Cuchilla  of 
Francisco  Maria  east  of  and  near  to  both  the  road  that  runs  through 
the  canyon  and  the  house  or  jacale  in  which  at  present  reside  a  family 
of  Mexicans  bearing  the  name  of  Pajo. 

The  second  are  the  streams  that  rise  west  of  the  said  road  within 
the  enclosure  of  the  field  of  said  Teodoro  and  east  of  his  house. 
These  constitute  and  form  by  far  the  largest  body  of  flowing  water 
upon  the  rancho  except  the  Los  Angeles  river  which  forms  one  of 
the  boundaries. 

The  third  is  the  stream  that  rises  near  the  southern  boundary  of 
the  702.64  acre  tract  assigned  to  P.  Beaudry  near  the  Arroyo  Seco  and 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  old  adobe  house  wherein  one  Joaquin 


116  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Chabolla  formerly  resided.  This  stream  flows  naturally  in  a  south- 
erly direction. 

The  fourth  is  the  Arroyo  Seco.  The  supply  from  this  though  at 
present  only  an  undefined  interest,  may  in  the  future  be  so  developed 
as  to  be  worthy  of  notice. 

The  fifth  is  the  Los  Angeles  river  from  which  by  means  of  canals 
and  ditches  it  is  the  opinion  of  your  referees  that  water  can  be  con- 
ducted upon  a  large  body  of  the  lands  lying  along  the  east  bank. 

Then  comes  the  recommendation  as  to  the  Verdugo  Canyon 
supply  upon  which  the  City  of  Glendale  depends  for  its  gravity  water, 
which  was  approved  and  affirmed  by  the  Court  in  its  decision. 

Your  referees  recommend:  That  the  said  Teodoro  and  Catalina 
Verdugo,  so  far  as  her  interest  is  in  common  with  the  said  Teodoro, 
be  decreed  to  have  so  far  as  their  necessities  require,  the  exclusive 
use  and  benefit  of  the  first  above  mentioned  stream  of  water,  the  sur- 
plus thereof  to  be  turned  into  the  second  above  mentioned  stream  or 
streams.  That  the  water  forming  the  second,  together  with  the  sur- 
plus from  the  first,  as  above  provided  belong  to  the  several  parties, 
Rafaela  Verdugo  de  Sepulveda,  Julio  Verdugo,  O.  \V.  Childs,  C.  E. 
Thom,  Maria  Antonia  Verdugo  de  Chabolla)  here  are  mentioned 
again  the  names  of  the  eight  sons  of  Julio  given  above),  Benjamin 
Dreyfus,  Catalina  Verdugo,  Marie  Sepulveda  de  Sanchez,  Andrew 
Glassell,  A.  B.  Chapman  and  P.  Beaudry;  and  that  these  several 
parties  be  decreed  to  be  entitled  to  use  and  enjoy  the  said  streams 
referred  to  as  the  second,  and  the  surplus  water  from  the  first  in 
following  proportions,  which  proportions  have  been  calculated  by 
your  referees  upon  the  basis  of  the  number  of  irrigable  lands  as- 
signed to  them  in  this  partition,  to  wit:  Rafaela  Verdugo  de  Sepul- 
veda two  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixteen  ten  thousands  of  the 
whole,  .02116;  Julio  Verdugo,  three  hundred  and  eight  ten  thous- 
ands, .00308;  O.  W.  Childs,  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  ten  thousands,  .01121;  C.  E.  Thom,  as  his  proportion  incident 
and  appurtenant  to  the  tract  of  579.67  acres  assigned  to  him  in  the 
Carabajal  tract,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  ten  thous- 
ands, .01750;  C.  E.  Thom,  as  the  proportion  incident  and  appur- 
tenant to  the  tract  of  30.92  acres  assigned  to  him  in  the  Catalina 
tract  (part  of  the  original  Rafaela  tract)  ninety-three  ten  thousands, 
.00093;  C.  E.  Thom,  as  incident  and  appurtenant  to  the  tract  of  25.3 
acres  assigned  to  him  subject  to  the  demands  of  the  administration  of 
the  estate  of  C.  V.  Howard,  and  as  above  referred  to,  seventy-five  ten 
thousands  of  the  whole.  .00075;  Maria  Antonia  Verdugo  de  Chabolla, 
twenty-four  ten  thousands,  .00024;  Chrysostimo  Verdugo,  Fernando 
Verdugo,  Pedro  Verdugo.  Jose  Maria  Verdugo,  Querino  Verdugo, 
Rafael  Verdugo,  Guillermo  Verdugo  and  Vittorio  Verdugo,  each, 
twenty-four  ten  thousands,  .00024;  Benjamin  Dreyfus,  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  ten  thousands,  .01197;  Maria  Catalina 
Verdugo,  as  incident  and  appurtenant  to  the  tract  assigned  to  her 
subject  to  the  demands  of  the  administration  of  the  estate  of  C.  V. 
Howard  one  hundred  and  eight  ten  thousands,  .00108;  Maria  Catalina 
Verdugo  as  incident  and  appurtenant  to  the  tract  of  land  containing 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  117 

201.82  acres  assigned  to  her,  six  hundred  and  seven  ten  thousands, 
.00607;  Andrew  Glassell  and  A.  B.  Chapman,  as  undivided  and  appor- 
tioned to  their  interests  in  the  Carabajal  tract,  one  thousand  and  nine 
ten  thousands,  .01009;  Maria  Sepulveda  de  Sanchez,  six  hundred  and 
forty-one  ten  thousands,  .00641 ;  P.  Beaudry.  as  incident  to  his  in- 
terest in  the  Carabajal  tract  seven  hundred  and  fifty-five  ten  thous- 
ands, .00755.  That  the  parties  .Andrew  Glassell,  A.  B.  Chapman  and 
P.  Beaudry  have  not  received  as  much  water  as  others  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  acres  of  land,  because  the  parts  assigned  to  them 
were  not  graded  quite  so  high  as  the  others  and  it  was  considered 
by  your  referees  that  these  parties  could  with  less  expense  and  with 
greater  ease  procure  water  from  the  Los  Angeles  river.  Provision 
is  then  made  for  Dreyfus,  Beaudry,  Ramirez  and  Glassell  and  Chap- 
man to  use  in  respective  proportions  the  water  of  the  Arroyo  Seco 
in  "ordinary  ditches."  Also  for  rights  of  way  to  carry  water  in 
ditches  from  the  river. 

The  various  tracts  are  here  summarized  in  acres  as  follows: 

Scott  Tract,  4,603;  Santa  Eulalia,  671.60;  Brent  Tract,  133.33; 
J.  D.  Hunter,  2,790.15;  undivided  mountain  land  commencing  at  the 
red  peak  known  as 

Colorado,  9,122.71;  Rafaela  Sepulveda.  971.60;  M.  Sepulveda  de 
Sanchez,  212.03;  Catalina  Verdugo,  201.82;  Estate  C.  V.  Howard, 
36.10;  C.  E.  Thom,  25.2;  Fernando,  Pedro,  Jose  Maria,  Rafael,  and 
Guillermo  Verdugo,  7.84  each ;  Teodoro  and  Catalina  Verdugo 
2,629.1 ;  Julio  Verdugo,  97.70  and  102.80. 

Chr.  Verdugo,  8;  M.  A.  V.  de  Chabolla,  8;  Glassell  &  Chapman 
La  Canada,  5,745;  San  Rafael,  22.9*  and  669.8;  C.  E.  Thom,  Caraba- 
jal, 579.67;  Catalina  Verdugo  int.  30.92;  P.  Beaudrv,  500.50;  Grazing 
Lands,  1,702.64;  F.  P.  Ramirez,  310;  O.  W.  Childsi  371.60;  B.  Drey- 
fus, 8,494.35. 

In  the  trial  of  this  case  both  Julio  and  Catalina  gave  testimony. 
From  her  own  testimony  we  learn  that  Catalina  was  born  at  the  Mis- 
sion San  Gabriel  in  1792;  she  had  lived  on  the  San  Rafael  over  fifty 
years.  She  had  been  blind  since  she  had  small  pox,  1862-63.  She 
testified  that  her  niece  Rafaela  had  married  Francisco  Sepulveda, 
to  whom  she  had  conveyed  certain  lands  to  be  divided  between  her 
nieces  and  nephews,  but  that  he  had  sold  it  to  others.  Her  evi- 
dence showed  that  Teodoro  was  her  favorite  nephew  and  that  he 
supported  her,  notwithstanding  that  he  had  a  large  family.  She  had 
sold  to  Carabajal  for  money ;  to  Teodoro  and  Rafaela  she  had  made 
gifts.  There  was  much  contradictory  testimony  about  a  piece  of  land 
conveyed  by  Julio  to  C.  V.  Howard.  Catalina  had  conveyed  certain 
lands  to  Teodoro  to  be  distributed  by  him  to  the  nieces  and  nephews, 
but  the  records  showed  that  he  had  signed  a  deed  of  the  same  to 
Howard.  The  testimony  of  Teodoro  confirmed  the  version  given  by 
his  aunt  and  he  denied  having  signed  the  deed  alluded  to,  which  was 
signed  by  a  cross  instead  of  bearing  his  written  signature.  The 
commission  sustained  the  transfer,  not  feeling  justified  in  going 
against  the  written  record  of  the  transaction.  Julio  also  gave  testi- 
mony in  connection  with  the  partition,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  was 


118  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

83  years  old  ( this  was  in  1870)  and  that  his  eyesight  was  poor.  He 
had  paid  Howard  for  his  services  and  after  the  latter's  death  had 
employed  F.  P.  Ramirez.  Teodoro  stated  that  his  age  was  about  42 
or  43  years.  His  own  land  was  deeded  to  him  by  Catalina  in  1864. 
Had  transferred  land  to  Sepulveda  for  a  division,  no  money  passing. 

In  this  case  a  number  of  old  deeds  and  other  legal  papers  were 
introduced  and  some  of  them  have  an  interest  on  account  of  the  use 
in  them  of  names  applied  to  certain  natural  objects,  which  are  no 
longer  used  to  describe  the  same.  Here  is  an  example :  Verdugo 
conveyed  to  J.  L.  Brent,  June  6,  1861,  a  piece  of  land  described  as 
follows :  "A  parcel  known  as  San  Julio,  commencing  at  a  large  stone 
known  as  Piedra  Gordo,  being  on  range  of  hills  called  Sunas  de  los 
Verdugos  to  the  north  of  the  plains  called  La  Garbanzo,  and  not  far 
west  from  Arroyo  Seco;  thence  to  summit  of  the  highest  peak  or  hill 
known  as  the  Devisidera  of  the  Piedra  Gorda,  to  the  south  of  said 
stone." 

Mr.  W.  C.  B.  Richardson  gave  testimony  tracing  the  chain  of  his 
Santa  Eulalia  property  as  follows :  Two  transfers  from  Verdugo  to 
Brent,  one  dated  December  18,  1855,  the  other  January  5,  1858;  Brent 
conveyed  to  F.  J.  Carpenter  who  conveyed  to  Wm.  Potter,  December 
4,  1861;  Potter  to  Mateo  Lanfranco  April  5,  1864;  Lanfranco  to 
Heath,  October  23,  1867;  Heath  to  Richardson,  August  6,  1868.  The 
survey  was  made  by  George  Hanson,  Julio  Verdugo  being  present  to 
point  out  land  marks,  etc. 

The  division  of  the  water  into  ten  thousand  parts,  was  not  an 
arbitrary  or  haphazard  selection  of  a  working  basis,  but  was  evi- 
dently chosen  because  of  the  fact  that  there  are  about  10,000  minutes 
in  a  week  and  it  was  possible  to  reduce  the  quantity  of  water  belong- 
ing to  any  one  individual  into  equivalent  time  by  a  very  simple 
process.  Any  owner  for  instance  who  controlled  say  100  parts  of  the 
water  of  the  canyon  stream,  would  be  entitled  to  the  full  run  of  the 
stream  for  100  minutes  once  a  week.  This  was  indeed  the  way  in 
which  the  water  of  the  canyon  was  distributed  when  the  settlers  of 
the  early  '80's  appeared  on  the  scene.  The  day  run  of  water  was 
usually  allotted  to  the  irrigationists,  while  the  night  run  went  into 
the  several  ditches  which  led  through  the  valley  to  the  various  houses, 
some  of  them  mere  "jacales"  of  brush,  that  were  scattered  along  the 
base  of  the  hills.  This  system  lasted  but  a  short  time  after  the 
pioneers  of  1883  arrived.  Some  of  them  procured  tanks  and  cisterns 
which  received  the  weekly  allowance  of  water,  while  others  quickly 
constructed  reservoirs. 

The  need  of  some  sort  of  a  water  delivery  system  at  once  be- 
came apparent  and  Messrs.  Wright,  Wicks,  Watts  and  Hodgkins,  the 
subdividers  of  the  most  of  the  ranch  property  without  waiting  for 
the  formation  of  a  company,  went  ahead  and  constructed  a  dam  near 
the  mouth  of  the  canyon  and  laid  a  concrete  main  pipe  down  through 
the  Ross  property  southward  along  Glendale  Avenue  and  down  to  the 
reservoir,  constructed  about  the  same  time,  just  north  of  Ninth 
(Windsor)  Street,  known  later  as  the  Tropico  Reservoir.  From  this 
main  line  one  branch  ran  easterly  to  the  reservoir  on  Verdugo  Road 


GLENDAI.E  AND  VICINITY  119 

near  First  Street;  they  also  excavated  that  reservoir.  Another  lateral 
pipe  was  laid  along  the  base  of  the  hills  westward  to  supply  "North 
Glendale."  Although  this  work  was  done  by  the  parties  named,  it 
was  paid  for  later  by  the  various  persons  benefited,  the  reservoirs 
being  deeded  to  the  local  distributing  companies  as  soon  as  the  latter 
were  organized,  as  they  were  very  soon  afterwards.  In  the  latter 
part  of  1883  the  Verdugo  Canyon  Water  Company  was  organized 
with  the  following  named  stockholders :  Col.  A.  S.  Moore,  G.  W. 
Barber,  S.  C.  Hollenbeck,  H.  J.  Crow,  E.  T.  Byram,  W.  J.  Kingsbury, 
J.  T.  Morgan,  E.  T.  Wright,  B.  F.  Patterson,  J.  C.  Sherer.  The  first 
meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  was  held  at  the  store  of  A.  S.  Hol- 
lingsworth  on  Glendale  Avenue. 

Col.  A.  S.  Moore  was  named  president,  and  J.  C.  Sherer,  secre- 
tary. This  company  was  incorporated  with  10,000  shares  at  a  par 
value  of  one  dollar  per  share.  Every  owner  of  Verdugo  Canyon 
water  was  eligible  to  membership,  every  share  to  represent  one  ten- 
thousandth  part  of  the  canyon  water  and  no  one  to  own  more  than  an 
equivalent  on  this  basis  of  his  interest  in  the  water.  An  effort  was 
made  in  the  beginning  to  have  the  owners  of  the  water  transfer  their 
rights  to  the  company,  but  they  were  generally  averse  to  doing  this 
and  so  the  company  was  organized  as  a  distributing  company  only, 
the  organizers  conveying  to  the  corporation  their  interest  in  the  dis- 
tributing system  pipes  and  reservoirs ;  the  water  rights  remaining  in 
the  individual  owners  and  recognized  as  appurtenant  to  the  land  in 
accordance  with  the  decree  of  partition.  With  the  exception  of 
Messrs.  Thorn  and  Ross,  who  were  owners  of  approximately  one- 
fourth  of  the  water  distributed  by  the  company  practically  all  of  the 
water  owners  became  stockholders  in  the  company.  The  function  of 
this  organization  was,  as  it  continues  to  be,  to  distribute  the  water  to 
the  various  local  companies  supplying  the  different  sections  of  the 
valley. 

By  this  plan  nearly  all  of  the  water  owners  were  stockholders 
in  the  Verdugo  Canyon  company,  while  in  addition  to  that  ownership 
they  owned  stock  in  their  neighborhood  companies  which  delivered 
the  water  to  their  lands.  Although  Messrs.  Thom  and  Ross  did  not 
become  stockholders  in  the  Verdugo  Canyon  company,  the  organiza- 
tion delivered  their  water  with  a  pro  rata  of  the  expenses  charge- 
able to  them  for  the  service. 

This  was  the  condition  when  the  City  of  Glendale  came  into 
existence  in  1906,  except  that  previous  to  that  time  there  had  been  a 
consolidation  of  certain  interests  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of 
the  Glendale  Consolidated  Water  Company  which  supplied  the  prin- 
cipal portion  of  Glendale  with  water  until  the  city  bought  out  this 
company  with  the  Verdugo  Springs  and  the  Verdugo  Pipe  and  Res- 
ervoir Company,  in  1914. 

The  Verdugo  Springs  Company  supplied  a  limited  territory  on 
the  east  side  of  the  city  while  the  Verdugo  Pipe  and  Reservoir  Com- 
pany was  a  mutual  company  delivering  water  to  its  stockholders 
only,  operating  along  the  Verdugo  Road.  Although  the  decree  of 
partition  had  expressed  itself  very  explicitly  and  allotted  water  rights. 


120  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

as  far  as  the  Verdugo  Canyon  supph'  was  concerned,  in  a  manner  that 
would  seem  to  have  left  no  chance  for  uncertainty,  there  was  never- 
theless from  time  to  time  for  several  3-ears.  consideral)le  friction 
between  the  people  of  the  valley  and  the  Verdugos.  At  one  time  in 
the  early  '90's,  the  latter  rented  a  considerable  acreage  of  the  canyon 
land  to  Chinese  for  gardening  purposes  and  this  naturally  created 
trouble,  as  the  water  needed  down  in  the  valley  for  domestic  use 
was  not  only  diverted  but  was  polluted  as  well  by  hog  pens  and 
corrals  near  the  stream. 

On  one  or  two  occasions  a  serious  conflict  between  guards  em- 
ployed by  the  water  company  and  over  zealous  workmen  who  were 
determined  to  have  water  at  any  cost,  was  narrowly  averted.  On 
another  occasion  the  zanjero  of  the  water  company  caused  the  arrest 
of  one  Bing  Hi  and  he  was  haled  before  the  nearest  justice  of  the 
peace,  at  Burbank,  where  he  was  able  to  produce  some  sort  of  an 
alibi,  and  in  retaliation  started  proceedings  against  the  zanjero  for 
false  imprisonment.  He  did  not  have  much  success  in  this  effort, 
and  after  this  condition  of  affairs  had  lasted  for  several  months  the 
Chinese  gave  up  trying  to  use  the  stream  for  stock  purposes. 

Frequent  diversions  of  water  continued  and  were  only  stopped 
when  suit  was  brought  against  Teodoro  Verdugo  by  the  Verdugo 
Canyon  Water  Company  and  the  Thorn  and  Rr)ss  interests.  This  suit 
was  filed  June  15,  1893,  Case  13999  in  Dept.  Four  of  the  Superior 
Court,  Andrew  Glassell  et  al  Plaintiffs  vs.  Teodoro  Verdugo  et  al 
Defendants  and  150  or  more  intervenors,  the  latter  comprising  about 
all  of  the  water  owners  in  the  valley.  An  Order  of  Restraint  was 
issued  by  Judge  Walter  Van  Dyke,  June  4,  1893.  This  order  starts 
out  by  reference  to  judgment  given  against  the  defendants  on 
Marsh  24,  1893,  in  favor  of  the  plaintiffs  with  costs  charged  to 
defendants. 

The  order  states  that  the  plaintiffs  are  owners  in  common  of  all 
the  water  rising  in  the  enclosed  field  of  Teodoro  Verdugo.  the  same 
being  described  in  detail  with  references  to  maps  on  file.  The  order 
proceeds:  It  is  further  ordered,  adjudged  and  decreed  that  the  de- 
fendants, their  servants,  agents  and  employes,  be.  and  they  hereby 
are  perpetually  enjoined  and  restrained  from  maintaining,  erecting, 
having  or  keeping  any  dam  or  artificial  obstruction  of  any  kind  or 
description  whatever  to  the  free  flow  in  the  natural  channels  thereof 
of  the  waters  rising  in  the  said  enclosed  field,  and  that  they  be  and 
they  hereby  are  restrained  and  enjoined  from  diverting  or  using  any 
of  said  waters  rising  within  said  enclosed  field.  Also  that  tliey  be 
and  they  hereby  are  restrained  and  enjoined  from  in  any  manner 
polluting  the  said  waters  or  obstructing  the  flow  thereof.  Also  that 
the  defendants  be  restrained  and  enjoined  from  in  any  manner  in- 
terfering with  the  plaintiffs,  or  intervening  plaintiffs,  their  lawful 
agents  and  representatives,  in  their  entry  upon  said  tract  of  land 
and  upon  said  enclosed  field  for  the  construction,  use,  cleaning  and 
repairing  the  ditches  and  channels  for  the  transmission  and  flow  of 
said  waters  to  which  they  are  entitled  for  their  use  as  aforesaid.  And 
it  is  ordered,  adjudged  and  decreed  that  the  permanent  order  of  this 


Loniita    Avcnin-   ahmit    19(18   and    in    1922. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  123 

court  issue  herein  against  the  defendants,  and  their  servants,  agents, 
emploj'es  and  attornej's,  requiring  them  and  each  of  them,  to  per- 
petually refrain  from  doing  any  of  the  actions  herein  restrained 
and  prohibited.  The  defendants  are  then  ordered  to,  within  ten 
days,  remove  all  obstructions  to  the  flow  of  the  water.  This  order 
was  fully  obeyed  and  the  menace  of  Bing  Hi  and  his  Chinese  gar- 
dens was  satisfactorily  removed,  much  to  the  relief  of  the  severely 
harassed  zanjero  of  the  water  company  and  the  water  owners  of  the 
valley. 

The  Verdugo  Canyon  Water  Company  had  acquired  by  purchase 
of  Judge  E.  M.  Ross,  about  seven  acres  of  land  in  the  canyon  upon 
which  the  company's  dam  and  distributing  works  were  located,  and 
had  also  spent  several  thousand  dollars  in  an  attempt  to  build  a  sub- 
merged dam  across  the  canyon  to  check  and  bring  to  the  surface  the 
underground  flow  of  water,  as  one  or  two  comparatively  dry  seasons 
had  diminished  the  flow  to  such  an  extent  that  some  effort  to  secure 
a  larger  supply  seemed  imperative.  This  work  was  only  partially 
successful,  as  it  had  only  been  possible  to  construct  about  two  hun- 
dred feet  of  the  dam,  work  upon  which  had  started  on  the  west  side 
of  the  canyon,  it  being  impossible  with  the  company's  limited  facil- 
ities to  go  any  further  eastward  in  following  the  bed  rock  which  con- 
tinued to  recede  downward  as  the  work  proceeded.  Work  was  then 
started  on  a  tunnel  running  eastward  but  after  this  had  reached  a 
point  beyond  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  company's  property,  Judge 
Ross  protested  against  its  continuance  under  his  land,  and  efforts  in 
this  direction  ceased.  This  work  of  development  was  not  an  entire 
failure,  as  some  twenty  inches  of  water  was  secured  and  added  to 
the  surface  supply. 

The  question  of  diversion  of  the  water  being  permanently  set- 
tled b}'  the  order  quoted  above,  no  more  trouble  was  experienced 
along  that  line,  but  the  question  of  development  was  brought  to  the 
front  by  the  sinking  of  wells  above  the  water  company's  land  by  both 
Capt.  C.  E.  Thoin  and  Judge  Ross  on  their  own  lands.  The  well  of 
Capt.  Thom  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  canyon  directly  above  the 
springs  supplying  the  main  stream  which  had  l)een  awarded  to  Thom 
and  Ross  and  the  settlers  lower  down  in  the  valley.  The  well  put 
down  by  Judge  Ross  was  on  his  land  f)n  the  east  side  of  the  canyon, 
but  the  water  owners  in  the  company  made  the  claim  that  water 
taken  out  by  means  of  a  pumped  well  at  any  i)oint  above  their 
works,  interfered  with  the  underground  stream  by  which  the  springs 
were  fed.  There  had  also  been  a  well  put  down  by  Verdugo.  and, 
seeing  a  good  prospect  of  their  water  supply  being  greatly  dimin- 
ished, if  not  cut  off  by  these  various  projects,  suit  was  brought  by 
the  Verdugo  Canyon  Water  Company  against  Verdugo  et  al  in  the 
Superior  Court  in  Los  Angeles,  before  Judge  M.  T.  Allen,  in  July, 
1904. 

The  opinion  of  Judge  Allen  is  based  partly  upon  the  assumption 
of  the  existence  of  two  streams  in  the  canyon  (the  east  and  the  west 
side  streams  of  the  decree  of  1871)  and  proceeds  to  state  that  the  de- 
cree of  1871  divested  the  lands  in  the  Canyon  Tract  of  riparian  rights 


124  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

as  far  as  the  west  side  stream  was  concerned,  while  the  lands  belong- 
ing to  Ross  and  Thorn  and  the  plaintiffs  below  the  Canyon  Tract 
were  invested  with  the  same  as  well  as  their  original  rights,  while 
the  Canyon  Tract  was  invested  with  the  right  to  a  reasonable  use  of 
all  the  waters  of  the  east  side  streams  upon  the  Canyon  Tract,  per- 
mitting that  not  required  or  taken  up  in  plant  lite  or  evaporation  to 
flow  on  down  the  stream  and  into  the  western  stream  at  the  junction 
of  the  two.  Also  that  the  rights  of  each  of  these  parties  to  the  sub- 
flow  of  these  streams  are  governed  by  the  same  rules  of  riparian 
ownership  as  a  surface  stream  of  water. 

The  opinion  goes  on  to  state  the  conditions  existing  in  the  can- 
yon, the  quality  of  the  land  and  the  quantity  of  water  per  acre  sup- 
posed to  be  required  by  Judge  Ross  for  his  orange  orchard,  etc.,  and 
continues:  "I  believe  that  a  line  drawn  from  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  enclosed  field  northerly  to  the  north  line  of  the  Canyon  Tract, 
midway  between  the  canyon  w^alls,  would  be  a  fair  division  of  this 
drainage  area,  east  of  which  the  owners  of  the  Canyon  Tract  should 
take  out  their  water.  Applying  this  rule,  Verdugo's  well  and  Captain 
Thorn's  wells  are  outside  their  proper  area,  and  were  it  not  that  all 
of  the  parties  had  full  knowledge  of  Verdugo's  outlay  in  the  installa- 
tion of  his  pumping  plant  and  the  use  of  water  therefrom  for  so  many 
years  and  the  conditions  which  would  naturally  arise,  under  such 
extended  use.  I  should  feel  it  my  duty  to  prohibit  further  operations 
at  its  present  location;  but  considering  the  acts  and  apparent  acquies- 
cence of  the  parties,  their  knowledge  of  the  surroundings.  I  am  loath 
at  this  date  to  interfere,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  no  con- 
vincing testimony  has  been  offered  showing  the  influence  of  this  pump 
upon  the  waters  of  the  western  stream  at  the  dam.  unless  we  con- 
sider the  small  diminution  said  to  be  noticed  at  the  dam  the  same 
day  the  pump  is  operated,  which  diminution,  if  ascribed  to  the  pump, 
would  be  upon  the  theory  that  the  water  of  that  canyon  would  flow 
through  the  character  of  material  shown  between  the  walls,  a  distance 
of  two  miles  in  a  single  day.  This  I  am  not  prepared  to  accept.  No 
damage,  therefore,  being  affirmatively  shown,  no  order  against  Ver- 
dugo  will  be  entered  as  to  the  thirty-five  inches  of  water  so  ex- 
tracted. If  he  needs  more  water,  or  Captain  Thom  desires  to  cultivate 
his  land  above  the  enclosed  field,  they  should  each  extract  water  from 
the  canyon  east  of  the  line  above  suggested,  that  being  the  area  feed- 
ing the  eastern  stream.  The  wells  of  Captain  Thom  and  Judge  Ross 
and  the  other  owners  of  land  below  the  Canyon  Tract  should  not  be 
interfered  with.  None  of  them  are  operating  wells  within  such  a  dis- 
tance of  the  dam  of  the  plaintiffs  as  to  interfere  with  the  flow  of  water 
at  such  dam.  Whatever  water  they  are  taking  is  escaping  through 
the  canyon  down  the  stream  through  their  lands;  they  are  taking  no 
part  of  it  other  than  that  required  for  use,  and  all  of  the  owners,  in 
the  ranches  below,  who  have  sunken  wells,  have  found  an  abundance 
of  water  flowing  under  their  holdings,  more  in  fact  than  Captain 
Thom  or  Judge  Ross  are  able  to  develop  near  the  mouth  of  the  can- 
yon, etc."  This  decision  was  not  satisfactory  to  either  party  and  the 
case  went  to  the  Supreme  Court,  resulting  in  a  lengthy  opinion  writ- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  125 

ten  by  Judge  Shaw,  other  judges  concurring,  under  date  of  January, 
1908.  This  opinion  starts  out  with  an  interesting  resume  of  condi- 
tions in  Verdugo  Canyon  and  vicinity,  and  referring  to  conditions 
when  the  decree  of  partition  was  given  in  1871,  states  that  the  irri- 
gable acreage  below  the  canyon  is  ?>.M5  acres,  to  which  was  allotted 
three  ten  thousandths  of  the  water  per  acre,  which  is  approximately 
correct  although  all  the  acreage  did  not  share  alike  as  has  been  shown 
elsewhere  in  this  history.  It  is  also  stated  that  at  that  iine  there 
were  twenty-one  different  owners. 

The  opinion  declares  that  the  decree  of  1871  did  not  change 
the  fact  of  riparian  rights  and  in  regard  to  the  stream  says:  Its 
waters  were  therefore  not  merely  appurtenant  thereto,  as  a  right 
acquired  by  proscription,  or  appropriation,  would  be,  but  were  a  part 
of  the  land  itself,  as  parcel  thereof.  This  was  the  case  with  respect 
to  each  of  the  three  surface  streams  then  flowing,  and  also  with  re- 
spect to  all  the  underground  flow  when  constituted  a  part  of  said 
streams.  In  making  a  partition  of  these  waters  the  right  to  the  use 
of  the  surface  streams,  which  previously  attached  to  the  entire  ranch, 
was  completely  severed  from  the  other  parts  thereof  and  transferred 
to  the  lands  to  which  water  was  assigned.  The  right  thus  assigned 
to  each  tract  by  the  partition  was  a  riparian  right  and  it  continues  to 
possess  that  character  with  all  its  attributes,  since  the  partition  as 
fully  as  before.  It  is  stated  that  the  west  side  stream  is  given  to  the 
lands  below  the  Canyon  Tract  exclusively.  Neither  part)'  should 
be  allowed  to  decrease  this  necessary  quantity  of  the  underground 
water  to  the  depletion  of  the  surface  stream  and  the  injury  of  those 
to  whom  it  has  been  assigned.  So  in  the  present  case  the  under- 
ground water  was  not  set  apart  and  the  available  sur])lus  thereof 
belongs  as  before,  to  the  riparian  lands  to  be  used  b}-  the  owners  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  riparian  rights. 

Each  parcel  of  land  therefore  is  entitled  to  its  proper  share  of  the 
entire  underflow,  without  regard  to  the  question  whether  it  comes 
from  the  underflow  supporting  the  particular  surface  stream  set  apart 
for  it  by  the  partition,  or  from  some  other  part  of  the  underflow, 
always  of  course  saving  the  proposition  that  no  owner  may,  by  ex- 
tracting the  underflow,  diminish  either  surface  stream  to  the  injury 
of  the  partj'  entitled  to  it. 

The  attempt  of  the  lower  court  to  establish  a  division  line  be- 
tween the  two  streams,  is  controverted.  The  opinion  expresses  dis- 
belief in  the  existence  of  any  division  underground  of  the  east  and 
west  side  streams.  On  this  \H>\nt  it  says:  "There  is  no  finding  how- 
ever, and  no  evidence  that  the  separation  is  so  complete  that  the 
pumping  of  water  from  one  of  them  will  not  affect  the  flow,  above  or 
below  the  surface  in  the  other,  and  this  is  the  vita!  point  in  the  case." 
It  is  declared  that  the  decree  of  the  lower  court  is  erroneous  in  not 
limiting  the  right  of  each  owner  to  his  proper  proportion  of  the  under- 
flow as  compared  to  the  rights  of  other  owners.  The  lower  court  is 
overruled  in  its  expression  of  unbelief,  that  the  pumping  from  a 
well  by  Verdugo  1,000  feet  north  of  the  enclosed  field  interfered  with 
the  surface  flow  of  the  west  side  stream  at  the  dam.     The  lower 


126  6LENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

court  is  criticised  for  not  finding  that  the  Ross  well  also  tended  to 
diminish  the  quantity  of  water  rising  to  the  surface  at  the  dam.  In 
regard  to  estoppel,  the  opinion  says :  "The  mere  fact  that  the  de- 
fendants expended  money  in  sinking  the  wells  and  putting  in  the 
pumps  each  upon  his  own  land  with  the  knowledge  of  the  plaintiffs 
and  without  objection  by  them,  creates  no  estoppel." 

There  was  nothing  in  the  circumstances  to  put  upon  the  plaintiffs 
any  duty  or  obligation  to  inform  either  defendant  that  the  pumping 
would  be,  or  was  a  violation  of  plaintiffs'  rights.  Verdugo  well  knew, 
from  the  former  action  against  him  that  the  plaintiffs  did  object  to 
any  diminuition  of,  or  interference  with  the  west  side  stream. 

The  necessary  elements  are  wholly  wanting,  and  therefore  the 
defense  of  laches  is  not  established.  After  disposing  of  the  question 
of  the  Verdugo  well,  by  stating  in  effect  that  it  undoubtedly  did  in- 
terfere with  the  water  rising  below,  the  court  proceeds  to  consider- 
ation of  the  Ross  well,  which  was  on  the  easterly  side  of  the  canyon. 
From  the  evidence  it  is  practically  certain  that  the  pumping  of  this 
well,  as  stated,  would  materially  reduce  the  underflow  at  the  dam. 
The  court  should  have  made  a  definite  finding  on  this  issue. 

In  regard  to  Judge  Ross'  rights  to  pump  water  the  court  says : 
"Under  the  partition  he  is  only  given  a  right  to  the  surface  flow  of  the 
east  side  stream.  With  regard  to  the  available  unpartitioned  under- 
flow he  is  entitled  as  a  riparian  owner,  to  his  reasonable  share  thereof, 
and  may  use  it  on  any  of  his  riparian  land  in  the  canyon  tract.  In 
regard  to  his  right  to  take  the  underflow,  by  means  of  a  pump  from 
the  land  above  the  dam  for  use  upon  his  lands  below,  his  riparian 
rights  are  modified  by  the  estoppel  existing  against  him  by  reason  of 
the  facts  referred  to  in  the  preceding  subdivision  of  this  opinion.  As 
we  have  said  the  dam  was  built  to  intercept  all  of  this  underflow  and 
devote  it  for  use  on  the  lower  lands,  and  he,  no  more  than  the  other 
parties  interested,  should  be  permitted  to  take  out  water  from  the 
underflow  above  the  dam  for  use  on  the  lower  lands,  to  a  sufficient 
extent  to  decrease  the  amount  thereof  that  will  flow  to  and  be  inter- 
cepted by  the  dam.  If  any  can  be  taken  out  without  producing  that 
effect,  he  and  the  other  riparian  owners  of  the  lands  below,  are  each 
entitled  to  a  reasonable  share  thereof."  In  conclusion  the  court  gives 
certain  directions  for  a  new  trial,  of  which  the  following  is  a  part : 
"The  only  just  method  of  adjusting  the  rights  in  this  surplus  of  the 
underflow,  is  to  ascertain,  as  near  as  may  be,  the  total  average  amount 
thereof  available  for  his  use  and  the  amount  required  by  each  party 
when  used  as  economically  and  sparingly  as  may  be  reasonably  pos- 
sible, and  upon  this  basis  apportion  to  each  his  due  share." 

The  principal  points  of  the  Supreme  Court's  opinion  have  been 
given  above  because  of  the  almost  vital  interest  the  people  of  Glen- 
dale  have  in  the  water  supply  of  Verdugo  Canyon.  As  will  be  noted 
the  court  intimated  that  a  new  trial  would  probably  be  required  to 
settle  the  matter  more  definitely.  No  new  trial  has  been  had,  but  it 
is  quite  within  the  range  of  probability  that  such  trial  must  be  had  in 
the  near  future  owing  to  the  rapid  development  of  the  canyon  tract  as 
a  residential  district.     When  the  Railroad  Commission  of  California 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  127 

held  a  hearing  in  Los  Angeles,  in  1913,  to  determine  the  price  that  the 
City  of  Glendale  should  pay  for  the  water  companies  it  proposed  to 
take  over,  testimony  was  taken  to  show  the  value  of  this  water  sup- 
ply. Various  engineers  giving  expert  testimony  placed  the  value  of 
the  water  all  the  way  from  $1,5CX)  to  $3,000  per  miner's  inch,  and  from 
records  of  the  supply  from  year  to  year  presented  by  Mr.  Woodberry, 
who  had  acted  as  zanjero  for  the  company  almost  from  its  inception, 
it  was  shown  that,  taking  all  the  seasonal  variations  into  considera- 
tion, it  was  fair  to  rate  the  stream  as  averaging  two  hundred  inches. 

In  1894,  the  V'erdugo  Canyon  company  in  conjunction  with  Judge 
Ross  and  Capt.  C.  E.  Thorn  purchased  of  Judge  Ross  about  seven 
acres  of  land,  extending  from  the  top  of  a  hill  on  the  west  side  of  the 
canyon,  extending  easterly  about  two-thirds  of  the  distance  across 
the  wash.  The  next  year  development  work  was  started,  the  object 
being  to  construct  a  submerged  dam  on  the  bed  rock.  Work  was 
begim  on  the  west  side  and  continued  for  about  seven  hundred  feet. 
As  the  work  proceeded  eastward  the  bed  rock  constantly  receded 
until  at  length  it  was  found  that  the  expense  of  carrying  out  the 
original  intention  would  be  so  great  as  to  make  it  practically  im- 
possible. After  an  expenditure  of  something  like  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  the  work  of  development  stopped.  It  was  not  altogether 
barren  of  results  as  an  addition  of  about  twenty-five  miners  inches  of 
water  was  by  it  added  to  the  supply.  Various  plans  for  further  de- 
velopment have  been  made  in  recent  years,  but  as  yet  none  of  them 
have  been  put  into  effect.  During  about  half  the  year  this  gravity 
water  furnishes  the  City  of  Glendale  with  its  supply  for  its  domestic 
use,  but  as  soon  as  the  irrigating  season  begins  it  is  supplemented  by 
pumped  water  from  the  wells  on  San  Fernando  Road. 

During  recent  years  the  City  of  Glendale  has  purchased  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  Verdugo  Canyon  water  and  water  company 
stock  from  individual  owners  until  it  now  owns  a  majority  of  the 
stock  in  the  Verdugo  Canyon  Water  Company,  although  it  does  not 
own  a  majority  of  the  ten  thousand  parts  of  the  water,  as  divided 
by  the  decree  of  1871.  That  portion  still  retained  by  individual  own- 
ers is  appurtenant  to  lands  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  city,  along  Ver- 
dugo Road,  and  to  the  lands  of  Thorn  and  Ross  and  the  foothill  ter- 
ritory of  North  Glendale. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  of  the  five  sources  of  suppl}'  recognized  by 
the  decree  of  1871  as  available  for  use  on  the  Rancho  San  Rafael,  only 
two,  the  east  and  the  west  side  streams  of  Verdugo  Canyon,  have 
been  made  use  of  by  the  recent  settlers  on  the  ranch.  The  water  of 
the  Los  Angeles  river  has  been  given  to  the  City  of  Los  Angles  by 
decree  of  court.  The  water  of  the  stream  in  the  Arroyo  Seco  never 
seems  to  have  been  made  available.  The  "third"  stream  described  as 
rising  near  the  south  boundary  of  the  land  of  P.  Beaudry,  has  not 
been  in  evidence  in  recent  years  except  during  the  wet  season  when 
it  appears  along  Verdugo  Road  south  of  the  City  of  Glendale  near 
where  the  Eagle  Rock  car  line  crosses  that  thoroughfare  and  continu- 
ing through  Glassell  Park  to  the  river. 


128  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

At  one  time  some  thirty  years  ago  an  artesian  well  located  in 
Eagle  Rock  valley  near  the  present  site  of  Occidental  College,  sup- 
plied a  considerable  stream  of  water  that  was  piped  southerly  across 
Verdugo  Road  to  the  lands  of  Andrew  Glassell.  This  well  was  prob- 
ably sunk  near  the  source  of  the  "stream"  alluded  to  in  the  decree. 

The  thirty-seven  hundred  ten  thousand  parts  of  the  Verdugo 
Canyon  water,  owned  by  the  City  of  Glendale,  has  been  acquired 
by  purchase  of  the  original  owners  many  of  whom  owning  only  a 
few  shares  and  being  supplied  by  the  city  water  system  regardless 
of  their  ownership,  have  disposed  of  their  individual  interests  to  the 
city.  Being  a  majority  owner  in  the  Verdugo  Canyon  Water  Com- 
pany, the  City  of  Glendale  controls  the  Board  of  Directors  and  shapes 
its  policy.  By  the  purchase  of  the  individual  water  rights  of  L.  C. 
Brand  and  of"  the  property  of  the  Consolidated  Water  Company  of 
which  he  was  trustee,  the  city  became  the  owner  of  about  an  acre 
of  land  on  the  San  Fernando  Road  near  the  Los  Angeles  river,  near 
the  foot  of  Grand  View  Avenue,  on  which  Mr.  Brand  had  sunk  a 
well  and  installed  a  pumping  plant.  Since  acquiring  this  property 
the  Citv  of  Glendale  has  spent  a  large  sum  of  money  in  its  develop- 
ment as  a  water  producer  with  great  success,  additional  wells  having 
been  put  down  and  first  class  pumping  equipment  having  been  in- 
stalled. Altogether  with  a  plant  consisting  of  five  wells,  the  city  has 
at  present  a  pumping  capacity  of  about  seven  hundred  miners  inches 
in  addition  to  its  interest  in  the  gravity  water  in  Verdugo  Canyon. 
And  in  both  these  courses  of  supply  there  is  a  reserve  capacity  in  the 
way  of  development  which  places  Glendale  above  apparent  need  of 
water  for  many  years  to  come.  Within  the  past  year  the  city  ac- 
quired an  additional  tract  of  some  thirty  acres  adjoining  its  original 
holdings  on  the  San  Fernando  Road. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  MUNICIPALITY  OF  GLENDALE— PART  ONE 

CONDITIONS  PRECEDING  INCORPORATION.  WORK  OF  THE  IM- 
PROVEMENT ASSOCIATION.  THE  ELECTION  OF  FEBRUARY  7.  1906. 
FIRST  OFFICIALS  OF  THE  CITY.  PROPERTY  VALUATIONS,  EFFORT 
TO  DISINCORPORATE  FAILS.  RIVALRY  OVER  POSTOFFICE.  POOL 
ROOMS  A  LIVE  ISSUE.  RAILROAD  TRACK  HAULED  AWAY  BY  NIGHT. 
HIGH  SCHOOL  SITE  CHANGED. 

The  time  had  now  come  when  it  became  necessary  for  the  pro- 
gressive community  to  take  steps  to  acquire  authority  to  do  public 
work,  as  efforts  to  obtain  certain  improvements  through  action  by  the 
County  Board  of  Supervisors  had  proved  very  unsatisfactory,  al- 
though the  supervisors  evidently  noted  the  constant  progress  and 
growth  of  the  community,  for  it  is  of  record  that  they  visited  Glen- 
dale  in  a  body  more  than  once  to  familiarize  themselves  with  condi- 
tions. At  last,  however,  the  thought  was  born  in  the  minds  of  a  few 
progressives  of  the  "village"  that  the  old  saying  still  holds  true,  that 
"the  gods  help  those  who  help  themselves,"  and  agitation  was  begun 
looking  to  the  accomplishment  of  incorporation  as  a  city  of  the  sixth 
class  under  the  general  law. 

On  May  21,  1902,  the  Glendale  Improvement  Association  was  or- 
ganized with  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt,  chairman,  and  Mr.  E.  D.  Goode,  secre- 
tary, and  it  was  through  the  efforts  of  this  organization  that  many 
affairs  of  public  interest  to  the  community  were  brought  to  a  success- 
ful issue,  and  the  incorporation  of  the  city  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant that  can  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  this  organization.  Look- 
ing over  the  record  of  the  association's  activities  for  the  four  years 
following  the  date  given  above,  one  cannot  but  be  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  this  body,  composed  of  a  comparatively  few  men  and  women 
of  that  time,  hampered  by  opposition  of  conservatives  always,  and 
without  funds  in  its  treasury  most  of  the  time,  has  to  its  credit  a 
record  of  accomplishments  that  is  almost  incredible.  There  had 
been  a  suggestion  made  that  the  association  be  incorporated  and  a 
committee  had  been  appointed  to  investigate  this  matter.  The  com- 
mittee on  May  6,  1904,  consisted  of  F.  G.  Taylor,  E.  T.  Byram,  E.  D. 
Goode,  John  M.  Merrill  and  E.  V.  Williams.  This  committee  was 
not  successful  in  arousing  sufficient  interest  in  the  incorporation  of 
the  society,  to  accomplish  that  object,  but  the  agitation  of  this  mat- 
ter led  to  arousing  some  interest  in  the  question  of  incorporating  as  a 
city. 

On  June  3,  1904,  Mr.  Taylor  stated  at  one  of  the  association's 
meetings  that  there  was  considerable  sentiment  in  favor  of  incor- 
porating the  village,  and  made  a  motion  that  Mr.  Goode  be  appointed 


130  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

a  committee  to  look  into  the  matter.  The  appointment  was  tnade 
and  on  Julj'  1,  1904,  Mr.  Goode  reported  that  he  had  interviewed  the 
District  Attorney  and  learned  that  to  accomplish  incorporation  it  was 
necessary  that  the  district  proposed  to  be  incorporated  should  have 
a  population  of  500  people,  and  that  the  petition  asking  for  the  calling 
of  an  election  should  have  on  it  the  signatures  of  at  least  100  citizens 
of  the  district,  etc.  A  motion  made  by  Mr.  Byram  was  adopted  that 
it  be  the  sense  of  the  meeting  that  steps  be  taken  to  incorporate,  the 
limits  of  the  proposed  city  to  be  the  same  as  the  limits  of  the  Glendale 
School  district. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  arrange  for  and  call  a  mass  meet- 
ing to  discuss  the  matter,  the  committee  consisting  of  Messrs. -Taylor, 
Goode,  Rev.  Norton,  Elias  Ayers  and  Sherer.  The  mass  meeting  was 
held  July  29,  1904.  The  principal  speaker  was  Mr.  Long,  of  Long 
Beach,  who  explained  the  law  governing  the  matter  and  enlarged  on 
the  desirability  of  incorporation.  The  minutes  of  the  meeting  state 
that  "the  question  carried  by  a  small  majority,"  which  shows  lack  of 
unanimity  of  sentiment. 

At  an  association  meeting  .A.ugust  fifth,  the  matter  was  discussed 
and  another  mass  meeting  arranged  for.  In  the  meantime  a  change 
had  been  made  in  the  officers  of  the  association,  Mr.  Edgar  Leavitt 
was  chairman  and  Mrs.  Lillian  S.  Wells,  secretary. 

The  second  mass  meeting  was  held  September  second,  Mr.  J.  C. 
Sherer,  acting  chairman.  Mr.  Goode  reported  progress  and  Mr.  Fred- 
eric Baker,  City  .A.ttorney  of  Long  Beach,  addressed  the  meeting  at 
length,  going  into  detail  and  covering  the  subject  thoroughly,  answer- 
ing questions,  etc.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Leavitt,  it  was  resolved  that 
Glendale  be  incorporated;  that  it  include  the  Glendale  City  school 
district  and  that  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  attend  to  circu- 
lation of  the  necessary  petition. 

At  a  regular  meeting  October  ninth,  the  committee  on  incorpora- 
tion was  named  as  follows:  Goode,  Taylor,  Overton.  Williams  and 
Wells.  Mr.  Goode  reported  for  the  committee  that  boundary  lines 
had  been  agreed  upon,  being  the  same  as  the  school  district  boundary 
on  the  north  and  east  but  changed  somewhat  on  the  south  and 
west.  At  this  meeting,  Mr.  Thos.  Hezmalhalch  representing  the  Ver- 
dugo  side  of  the  settlement  voiced  the  opposition  of  that  section  to 
incorporation,  the  community  along  Verdugo  Road  having  at  that 
time  a  post  office  and  being  locally  known  as  "Verdugo,"  some  of  its 
citizens  had  plans  of  their  own  and  had  organized  an  improvement 
association  to  advance  the  interests  of  that  section;  Mr.  M.  L.  King 
was  the  president  of  this  organization  and  Mr.  Hezmalhalch,  secre- 
tary. 

The  Tropico  section  was  also  opposed  to  incorporation,  possess- 
ing a  post  office  of  its  own  and  having  local  aspirations  for  the 
future. 

At  a  meeting  held  November  eleventh  Mr.  Goode  reported  that 
the  committee  had  reduced  the  boundaries,  but  was  in  favor  of  going 
as  far  westward  as  the  West  Glendale  school  house  (Columbus  Ave- 
nue).   On  December  nine  Mr.  Goode  made  another  report  to  the  ef- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  131 

feet  that  consideral:)le  opposition  had  lieen  eiicountered  and  it  seemed 
inadvisable  to  follow  the  matter  up  any  further  at  present,  whereupon 
the  report  was  received  and  the  committee  discharged.  The  associa- 
tion was  kept  busy  attending  successfully  to  other  matters  for  the 
next  six  months,  and  in  the  meantime  the  subject  was  discussed  quite 
generally  b\'  the  people  at  large,  and  at  a  meeting  held  on  June  13, 
1905,  the  chairman  brought  the  matter  up  again,  stating  that  many 
people  were  talking  in  favor  of  incorporating  as  a  city  and  suggested 
that  the  secretary  communicate  with  the  Tropico  Association  and  as- 
certain, if  possible,  how  that  organization  now  regarded  the  matter. 
In  the  meantime  Mr.  George  B.  Woodberry  had  succeeded  Mrs.  Wells 
as  secretary  of  the  Glendale  association. 

At  a  meeting  on  July  eleven,  the  secretary  read  a  letter  from  the 
Tropico  Association  to  the  effect  that  that  organization  had  declared  a 
vacation  for  three  months  and  consequently  was  not  prepared  to  do 
anything.  Discussion  of  the  subject  was  resumed  and  the  old  com- 
mittee re-appointed  with  the  addition  of  Mr.  R.  A.  Blackburn,  who 
had  been  active  in  connection  with  railroad  and  other  public  matters. 
The  Glendale  association  was  not  taking  vacations  in  those  days 
and  on  August  eighteen  the  incorporation  committee  made  a  report 
of  progress  and  the  meeting  appears  to  have  been  imbued  with  a  new 
spirit  of  determination  to  put  the  thing  through.  Mr.  Blackburn  said 
that  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  association  to  back  up  the  commit- 
tee to  the  fullest  extent,  and  a  resolution  pledging  the  committee  sup- 
port and  instructing  it  to  go  ahead  was  adopted  apparently  without 
opposition. 

On  October  twentieth  Mr.  Goode  reported  progress  and  gave  de- 
tails of  a  meeting  with  the  Tropico  Association  to  discuss  joint  incor- 
poration of  the  entire  valley.  It  appeared,  however,  that  the  people  of 
Tropico  were  not  in  favor  of  this  proposition  and  that  this  feature  of 
the  question  would  have  to  be  dropped.  In  regard  to  the  petition  of 
Glendale,  he  stated  that  conditions  seemed  favorable  and  that  sev- 
enty-one names  had  been  secured ;  that  one  of  the  requirements  of 
the  law  was  that  the  petition  must  be  published  for  two  weeks  in  a 
local  paper,  but  in  his  opinion  such  publication  in  the  Glendale  paper 
recently  established,  was  inadvisable. 

At  a  meeting  on  December  fifteen,  Mr.  Goode  reported  that 
through  an  error  on  the  part  of  the  map  maker,  Verdugo  Park  had 
been  omitted  from  the  territory  proposed  to  be  incorporated.  In  the 
meantime  large  ranch  holders  were  at  work  endeavoring  to  head  off 
the  movement  through  fear  of  increased  taxes.  At  a  hearing  before 
the  Board  of  Supervisors  a  large  number  of  citizens  were  present  and 
the  merits  of  the  proposition  were  set  forth  by  one  group  while  the 
other  argued  against  it.  The  opposing  parties  came  together  finally, 
however,  and  a  district  was  outlined  which  while  not  satisfactory  to 
either  party  altogether,  was  generally  acce])ted  as  about  fair  to  both. 
The  (late  of  the  election  was  finally  fixed  for  February  7.  1906, 
and  an  election  board  appointed  consisting  of  the  following  citizens: 
H.  E.  Gulvin,  T.  \V.  Doyle,  \V.  A.  Anderson,  George  Byram,  C.  E. 
Lund,  Fred  Suit  and  C.  E.  Russell.   There  were  120  votes  cast  at  the 


132  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

election ;  four  were  thrown  out  as  irregular,  75  were  in  favor  of  in- 
corporation and  41  against.  The  campaign  was  a  lively  one  and  feel- 
ing "ran  high"  while  it  lasted.  Indignation  meetings  were  held  at 
which  dire  prophecies  were  made  as  to  the  results  that  would  un- 
doubtedly follow  in  the  wake  of  the  venturesome  enterprise.  As  a 
inle  opposition  came  from  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  subject  and 
many  of  those  who  opposed  the  proposition  on  election  day  soon  be- 
came supporters  of  the  administration  although  there  were  quite  a 
number  of  irreconcilables  around  the  edges.  There  was  only  one 
ticket  in  the  field  and  the  following  ofificers  were  elected :  Trustees, 
Wilmot  Parcher,  Geo.  U.  Moyse,  Thos.  W.  Watson,  Asa  Fanset  and 
Jas.  C.  Jennings.  Clerk,  Geo.  B.  Woodberry;  Treasurer,  J.  C.  Sherer; 
Marshal,  Orrin  E.  Patterson. 

On  February  16,  1906.  the  Improvement  .\ssociation  held  a  meet- 
ing at  which  the  fact  of  the  incorporation  of  the  city  was  reported  as 
having  been  successfully  accomplished  and  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
association  held  any  more  meetings,  apparently  being  content  to  pass 
into  history  with  the  record  it  had  made ;  and  certainly  the  historian 
of  that  time  must  in  justice  remark  that  for  an  organization  under 
such  circumstance  as  surrounded  it.  the  Glendale  Improvement  Asso- 
ciation of  1902-1906  accomplished  great  things,  for  we  have  found  in 
its  records  covering  the  period  spoken  of,  that  its  members,  compris- 
ing a  very  small  minority  of  the  people  of  the  community,  were  vig- 
orously promoting  such  enterprises  as  the  building  of  railroads,  erect- 
ing school  houses,  laying  out  streets,  getting  up  entertainments,  print- 
ing pamphlets,  constructing  bridges  and  doing  other  things  innum- 
erable to  build  up  the  community  and  provide  a  broad  and  safe  basis 
for  its  future  greatness. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  held  at  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Clerk,  Mr.  Woodberry.  Mr.  Wilmot  Parcher,  a  success- 
ful business  man,  was  the  unanimous  choice  for  Chairman  of  the 
board  and  proved  to  be  the  right  man  for  the  place.  Mr.  Frederic 
Baker  was  appointed  City  .\ttorney  and  Mr.  Postle,  a  resident  of 
South  Pasadena,  Engineer;  Mr.  Edgar  Leavitt,  Recorder. 

The  second  meeting  was  held  in  the  building  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Fourth  street  (Broadway)  and  Glendale  avenue.  After 
meeting  there  for  a  few  months,  quarters  were  secured  in  a  one  story 
brick  building  erected  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Anderson  on  Broadway  oppo- 
site the  Glendale  Sanitarium,  as  it  is  now  known.  The  next  move 
was  to  the  present  city  hall. 

The  new  government  began  work  at  once,  entering  vigorously 
on  a  campaign  of  street  improvement  which  was  pushed  through  as 
fast  as  possible  so  that  in  a  comparatively  short  time  the  dusty  roads 
put  on  a  metropolitan  appearance  with  smooth  hard  roadways,  and 
sidewalks  and  curbs  were  constructed. 

In  January,  1907,  the  proprietor  of  one  of  the  two  lumber  yards 
then  in  operation  reported  that  during  the  previous  five  months 
there  had  been  75  new  buildings  erected.  During  that  month  the 
Salt  Lake  Railroad  Companj'  had  purchased  six  lots  of  C.  E.  Thorn 
on  the  west  side  of  Glendale  Avenue  for  depot  purposes,  a  move 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  133 

which  gave  some  promise  of  future  usefulness  on  the  part  of  that 
company  in  the  development  of  Glendale  which  has  not  as  yet  been 
fulfilled,  as  by  the  loss  of  its  passenger  carrying  business  to  the  Pa- 
cific Electric  company,  the  steam  road  seems  to  have  been  content 
to  merely  hold  on  to  its  freight  trafTfic,  which  consists  of  carrying 
lumber  for  the  yards  along  its  line  and  the  hauling  of  the  orange  and 
lemon  crop  from  the  orchards  of  Ross,  Thom,  Sparr  and  others. 

On  March  2,  1907,  there  was  an  election  for  a  bond  issue  to  be 
used  in  the  erection  of  a  city  hall  and  purchase  of  apparatus  and 
equipment  for  a  fire  department.  The  voters  were  as  yet  canny  about 
incurring  bonded  indebtedness,  however,  and  refused  to  support  the 
city  hall  project  but  authorized  the  issue  for  the  fire  department. 

In  March  of  this  year  Mr.  H.  L.  LeGrand  was  installed  as  agent 
of  the  Pacific  Electric  Company  and  the  subject  of  a  Carnegie  library 
was  being  agitated  not  to  be  carried  to  a  successful  issue  until  1914, 
as  the  expenditure  of  about  a  thousand  dollars  yearly  for  library  pur- 
poses was  looked  upon  generally  as  too  much  of  an  undertaking  to  be 
assumed  at  that  time. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  March  of  this  year,  1907,  the  city 
engineer  (Mr.  E.  M.  Lynch)  made  a  report  on  "Sycamore  Canyon 
Road,"  a  proposed  road  running  through  the  length  of  the  citj'  from 
north  to  south  along  the  "Childs  Tract  line"  some  six  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  east  of  Adams  Street,  interest  attaching  to  the  matter  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  the  road  has  not  yet  been  opened,  although  at- 
tempts have  been  made  looking  to  that  end  periodically  ever  since. 
The  engineer's  suggestion  was  for  a  district  to  be  formed,  comprising 
about  six  hundred  acres  on  the  east  side  of  the  city,  which  should 
bear  the  expense  of  the  opening  and  improvement  at  a  cost  of  about 
forty-five  dollars  per  acre. 

May  6,  1907,  was  a  red  letter  day  in  Glendale  as  on  that  date 
the  city  entertained  a  host  of  "Shriners"  on  the  occasion  of  their  an- 
nual national  gathering.  There  was  a  barbecue  at  Casa  Verdugo  and 
a  general  holiday  was  observed,  the  affair  being  carried  ofT  very  suc- 
cessfully. 

At  this  time  the  growing  of  strawberries  had  become  an  industry 
of  considerable  importance  in  the  valley  surrounding  Glendale  and 
Tropico.  The  headquarters  of  the  Strawberry  Growers  association 
was  at  Tropico  and  shipments  were  being  made  from  that  point 
amounting  to  about  7,000  cases  of  berries  daily.  This  business 
brought  the  growers  of  the  fruit  for  that  year  about  $250,000.  Mr. 
Wilmot  Parcher,  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Glendale,  was 
the  Association  manager.  This  industry  flourished  for  several  years 
but  finally  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Japanese  who,  through  over-pro- 
duction for  one  season,  finally  brought  about  its  collapse.  The  ship- 
ment of  oranges  and  lemons  for  this  season  anidunted  to  about  250 
carloads.  These  facts  indicate  that  the  neighborhood  around  Glen- 
dale, Tropico  and  Burhank,  was  one  of  natural  productive  capacity 
and  did  not  depend  entirely  upon  the  sale  of  town  lots  for  its  pros- 
perity. 

An  estimate  given  by  the  local  newspaper  showed  that  the  pop- 


134  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Illation  of  Glendale  at  this  period  doubled  in  about  eighteen  months; 
the  period  of  greatest  growth  having  begun  with  the  advent  of  the  Pa- 
cific Electric  railroad  in  1905. 

Business  blocks  were  being  erected  on  both  sides  of  the  city,  con- 
siderable rivalry  existing  between  the  "East"  and  "West"  sides  of  the 
town. 

An  idea  of  the  value  of  real  estate  at  this  time  is  gained  from  an 
advertisement  in  the  local  paper,  offering  "bargains"  as  follows: 
Building  on  southwest  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue  and  Broadway, 
$15,000;  on  northwest  corner  of  the  same  street.  $10,000,  the  former 
being  ~a  two-story  frame  structure  and  the  latter  one  story.  The  two- 
story  frame  building,  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Third  Street  and 
Glendale,  $10,000. 

In  July,  1907,  the  Glendale  Country  Club  was  opened  on  Brand 
Boulevard,  corner  of  Third  (Wilson)  Street,  the  building  being  an 
artistic  structure,  erected  by  Mr.  Brand  for  an  incorporated  com- 
pany. The  club  for  the  next  two  or  three  years  was  the  center  of 
social  functions  in  the  city,  and  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  city,  during  that  period. 

About  this  time  Glendale's  railroad  builder,  Mr.  E.  D.  Goode, 
began  a  campaign  to  secure  for  the  East  side  of  Glendale  an  extension 
of  the  "Yellow  Car  Line."  The  owner  of  the  i)ropert3'  on  the  East 
side  of  Verdugo  Road,  now  known  as  the  "Sagamore  Tract"  was  to 
join  hands  with  Mr.  Goode  and  give  a  large  proportion  of  a  bonus  to 
induce  the  Los  Angeles  Railway  Company  to  build  up  the  Verdugo 
Road  from  the  point  where  the  company's  line  crosses  that  thorough- 
fare northward  into  Glendale.  The  company  was  to  be  given  $17,000 
and  a  right  of  way.  Papers  were  signed  by  the  railroad  people  agree- 
ing to  build  into  Glendale  on  the  above  conditions,  the  road  to  leave 
\^erdugo  Road  at  a  point  between  Broadway  and  Third  (Wilson) 
Street  turn  westward  and  find  a  terminus  at  Belmont  Street.  Ver- 
dugo Road  was  to  be  widened  to  a  hundred  feet,  property  owners  hav- 
ing agreed  to  this,  and  the  railroad  was  to  be  given  a  private  right  of 
way  in  the  center  of  the  road.  The  matter  had  proceeded  so  far  that 
the  city  trustees  had  taken  favorable  action  on  a  petition  from  owners 
of  Verdugo  Road  frontage  asking  for  abandonment  of  a  strip  in  the 
center  of  the  street,  instructing  the  city  attorney  to  draw  the  neces- 
sary resolution,  when  for  some  reason  the  principal  contributor  to 
the  bonus  fund,  withdrew  or  failed  to  act  and  the  project  failed. 

In  Jul)',  1907,  the  sale  was  announced  of  a  twenty  acre  tract, 
now  appearing  on  the  map  as  "Glendalia  Park"  tract,  belonging  to 
Judge  E.  M.  Ross,  to  Holman  and  Campbell  for  about  $35,000.  This 
is  now  one  of  the  city's  choicest  residence  and  business  sections. 

The  municipal  officials  elected  in  February  held  office  until  the 
time  of  the  regular  elections  in  the  following  April,  when  all  were 
re-elected,  except  that  trustee  Moyse  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for 
re-election  and  Asa  Fanset  was  elected  in  his  place.  It  is  recorded  in 
the  Minute  book  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  that  on  .\pril  18,  1906,  the 
trustees  adjourned  their  regular  meeting  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to 
the  victims  of  the  San  Francisco  earthquake  and  fire. 


(.ilcndak->   Couiitr\    L  luh   oi    tin     Past,  ami    (above)    Brand    Bouk'vard   at    Hroadwav 

about   1909. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  137 

On  May  eighteen,  a  permit  was  given  a  Los  Angeles  concern  to 
lay  gas  pipes  in  the  city  streets  and  a  few  blocks  in  length  of  pipe 
was  actually  laid,  but  the  company  registered  a  dismal  failure  leaving 
a  few  local  investors  to  mourn  its  premature  demise. 

The  need  of  a  city  hall  soon  became  apparent  and  a  public  si)irited 
citizen,  Mr.  L.  H.  Hurtt  offered  to  donate  to  the  city  a  lot,  located 
opposite  the  present  City  Hall,  on  the  sole  condition  that  the  city 
erect  thereon  a  municipal  building  that  should  cost  not  less  than 
.$3,000.  With  rare  foresight  the  trustees,  realizing  that  a  fifty  foot 
lot  would  not  permit  the  erection  of  a  suitable  building  such  as  the 
city  would  soon  demand,  and  after  trying  ineffectually  to  secure  a  lot 
adjoining  the  one  offered,  declined  the  gift. 

On  October  twenty-seventh  the  trustees  were  presented  with  a 
petition  signed  by  seventy  citizens,  asking  that  they  proceed  to  call 
an  election  to  vote  on  the  dis-incorporation  of  the  city,  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  requirements  of  the  law.  an  election  was  called  to 
be  held  on  December  11,  1906,  to  decide  again  the  question  which 
was  practically  the  same  as  the  one  by  which  Glendale  became  a 
city  ten  months  before.  The  petition  showed  that  there  was  still  an 
active  dissatisfied  element  in  the  community  that  did  not  support 
the  administration  and  would  not  easily  be  downed.  The  owners  of 
the  large  tracts  of  land  within  the  corporate  limits  who  had  fought 
vigorously  against  incorporation  refused,  however,  to  train  longer 
with  the  discontented  ones  and  gave  no  encouragement  to  the  move- 
ment backwards.  When  the  ballots  were  counted  on  the  evening  of 
election  day  the  tally  of  votes  cast  showed  46  in  favor  of  dis-incor- 
porating  and  224  against  the  proposition.  A  glance  at  the  list  of 
names  on  the  petition  asking  for  this  election  to  be  called,  shows 
that  a  number  of  the  signers  evidently  quickly  forgot  their  seeming 
causes  of  discontent  and  became  "leading  citizens."  The  two  or 
three  leaders  of  the  discontented  faction  however  have  passed  on  to 
another  country,  mundane  or  otherwise. 

In  Xovember,  Mr.  Fanset  having  been  appointed  postmaster, 
resigned  as  city  trustee  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Frank  Campbell. 
In  this  connection  it  may  be  found  interesting  to  recall  a  little  po- 
litical history  of  that  time  which  has  never  before  found  its  way  into 
print.  From  the  beginning  of  the  era  of  Glendale's  development  there 
had  been  and  continued  for  a  few  years  thereafter  a  lively  rivalry  be- 
tween the  "East"  and  "West"  sides  of  the  city,  leading  to  considerable 
feeling  between  the  factions.  There  were  many  incidents  illustrating 
the  fact  of  the  existence  of  this  feeling  so  that  no  truthful  historian 
can  conscientiously  elude  reference  to  it,  although  happily  these  grow- 
ing pains  have  been  cured  by  time,  and  allusions  can  be  made  to  cer- 
tain occurrences  of  that  period  now.  that  at  the  time  might  have  led 
to  increased  bitterness  of  feeling  it  nothing  worse.  The  postofiice 
had  been  an  institution  on  the  "East  side"  ever  since  its  establish- 
ment, as  before  the  advent  of  the  electric  railroad  the  great  majority 
of  the  people  resided  in  that  section. 

W^ith  the  building  up  of  Brand  Boulevard  the  center  of  popula- 
tion drifted  westward  and  it  was  only  natural  that  the  citizens,  di- 


138  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

rectly  interested  in  that  part  of  the  city,  should  desire  to  do  every- 
thing legitimately  possible  to  favor  themselves.  With  this  end  in 
view  they  moved  to  secure  the  post  office  for  that  section.  A  petition 
was  put  in  circulation  asking  the  department  at  Washington  to 
change  the  location  of  the  office  and  appoint  a  postmaster  who  was 
named  in  the  petition.  When  the  old  timers  on  Glendale  Avenue 
heard  of  the  movement  a  hurried  council  was  held  and  steps  taken 
to  head  it  off. 

Fortunately  for  their  purpose  the  congressman  of  the  district 
had  a  better  acquaintance  with  the  old  timers  than  with  the  new 
comers  of  Glendale  and  advantage  was  taken  of  this  fact  to  have  him 
approached  and  advised  of  the  situation.  To  the  committee  that 
waited  on  him  he  said,  "Yes,  I  can  have  your  man  appointed  if  you 
will  get  together  and  name  one  who  will  be  satisfactory  to  both  sides 
of  the  town ;  go  home  and  talk  it  over  with  your  friends  and  when 
you  have  selected  the  man,  let  me  know."  The  committee  got  to- 
gether promptly  and  decided  upon  Mr.  Asa  Fanset,  a  well  known 
citizen  who  had  been  identified  with  neither  faction.  One  mem- 
ber of  the  committee  waited  upon  the  congressman  the  following 
day  and  presented  Mr.  Fanset's  name.  "All  right,"  the  congressman 
said,  "and  now  as  I  have  had  some  experience  in  these  affairs  I  will 
do  what  I  have  discovered  always  saves  time  and  trouble,  I  will 
settle  this  thing  right  now  before  the  other  fellows  get  after  me." 
He  took  a  telegraphic  blank  and  wrote  a  telegram  to  the  First  As- 
sistant Postmaster  General  at  Washington,  recommending  Mr.  Fan- 
set  for  postmaster  at  Glendale,  and  handed  it  to  the  committeeman, 
saying,  "Now  go  to  the  telegraph  office  and  send  this  message,  and 
I've  just  one  thing  to  say — don't  tell  anybody  that  the  appointment 
has  been  made  until  it  has  actually  been  made  public,  for  I  don"t 
want  to  be  bothered  about  it." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  his  injunction  was  respected 
and  acted  upon,  not  even  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Fanset  knowing 
anything  about  it  until  the  appointment  was  published  in  the  news- 
papers. It  was  reported  later,  however,  that  the  representative  from 
the  district  of  which  Glendale  was  a  part,  did  not  succeed  in  staying 
off  trouble  over  the  matter  as  a  number  of  gentlemen  of  real  im- 
portance and  holding  rather  elevated  official  positions,  with  one 
large  corporation  in  particular,  and  even  with  the  government  at 
Washington,  interviewed  the  congressman,  more  than  once,  and 
wondered  why  he  was  not  susceptible  to  influence. 

A  matter  which  caused  the  Board  of  Trustees  considerable  per- 
turbation at  the  time,  and  brought  down  upon  them  much  unde- 
served criticism,  was  their  refusal  to  grant  the  Pacific  Electric  Rail- 
road company  a  franchise  over  the  alley  north  from  Broadway  be- 
tween the  present  location  of  the  City  Hall  and  Glendale  Avenue. 
Application  was  made  for  this  privilege  in  January,  1907.  Aside 
from  the  fact  that  granting  a  franchise  as  requested  would  have  meant 
the  practical  abandonment  of  the  alley  to  the  use  of  the  railroad 
company,  which  in  itself  was  a  good  reason  for  refusal  on  the  part 
of  the  city  authorities,  it  was  developed  subsequently  that  a  partial 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  139 

promise  had  been  given  to  the  Salt  Lake  company  to  permit  it  to 
run  down  the  alley  from  First  to  Second  Street  back  of  the  lumber 
yard,  so  that  it  happened  that  both  companies  wanted  the  same  priv- 
ilege. The  Pacific  Electric  Company  wanted  to  lay  its  track  from 
Broadway  to  First  Street  over  the  alley  so  as  to  get  access  to  the 
lumber  yard,  the  other  company  having  the  same  object  in  view. 
On  February  2,  1907,  the  Trustees  gave  the  latter  company  a  permit 
to  lay  its  tracks  south  to  Second  Street. 

The  subsequent  action  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Company  in  taking 
up  its  track  from  Brand  Boulevard  to  Glendale  Avenue,  was  by  some 
of  the  people  attributed  to  its  desire  to  "get  even"  for  being  refused 
the  desired  privilege.  The  electric  road  had  been  constructed  on 
Broadway  from  Brand  Boulevard  to  Glendale  Avenue  before  the  city 
was  incorporated  and  a  franchise  was  not  obtained  over  that  street 
until  January,  1907. 

On  February  27,  1907.  the  city  voted  on  a  bond  issue  of  $17,000 
for  the  purchase  of  a  lot  and  the  erection  of  a  city  hall,  and  $5,000  for 
fire  fighting  apparatus  and  equipment.  The  vote  was  as  follows : 
City  Hall  proposition,  yeas,  162;  nays,  121,  indicating  a  majority  in 
favor  but  not  the  necessary  two  thirds.  The  purchase  of  fire  fighting 
equipment  was  authorized  by  a  vote  of  222  in  favor  and  44  against  it. 

The  question  of  licensing  pool  rooms  agitated  the  community 
about  this  time,  sentiment  among  the  people  being  divided,  the 
churches  solidly  taking  a  position  against  it.  On  August  fourteenth 
the  trustees  granted  a  permit  to  L.  F.  Hadrich  to  operate  a  pool 
room  in  the  building  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue 
and  Broadway  and  three  days  later  a  mass  meeting  was  held  in 
the  Presbyterian  church  to  protest  against  this  action,  the  trustees 
being  called  upon  to  appear  and  defend  themselves  as  best  they 
might.  The  meeting  developed  rather  high  temperature,  the  officials 
coming  in  for  fervid  denunciation  and  a  resolution  being  adopted, 
almost  unanimously  condemning  the  granting  of  the  permit. 

The  following  week  at  the  regular  meeting  of  the  trustees  a  com- 
mittee which  had  been  appointed  at  the  mass  meeting,  appeared  be- 
fore the  city  officials  and  demanded  that  the  action  by  which  the 
permit  had  been  granted  be  rescinded.  The  subject  was  referred  to 
committee  of  the  whole,  where  it  laid  indefinitely.  The  action  of  the 
board  was  not  unanimous,  however,  Trustee  Watson  voting  consis- 
tently against  the  majority.  The  agitation  of  the  matter  continued 
until  the  passing  some  weeks  later  of  an  ordinance  prohibiting 
pool  rooms  in  the  city. 

On  September  14,  1907,  the  Building  Inspector's  report  showed 
for  the  five  months  just  ended,  sixty-six  permits  issued  at  a  valuation 
of  $78,025. 

The  Glendale  Steam  Laundry  was  established  in  September  of 
this  year  by  Albright  &  Andrews. 

On  October  twelfth  the  city  received  a  proposition  from  L.  C. 
Brand  to  sell  the  lighting  system  for  the  sum  of  $21,000.  The  pur- 
chase was  not  made  at  that  time,  however. 


140  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Another  fact  indicating  the  rapid  growth  of  the  community  at 
this  time,  was  the  demand  for  increased  accommodations  for  the  High 
School  established  only  about  two  years  previously.  The  Board  of 
Trustees  on  December  26.  1906,  passed  a  resolution  agreeing  to  pay 
$1,771.81  for  Lot  17,  Block  11,  Town  of  Glendale.  This  is  the  lot  ex- 
tending from  Glendale  Avenue  through  to  Howard  Street  occupied 
by  the  "Power  House"  of  the  Public  Service  department.  The 
trustees  were  severely  criticised  at  the  time  for  making  this  pur- 
chase; not  only  on  account  of  the  "exorbitant  price"  paid  for  it.  but 
especially  were  they  condemned  for  buying  it  from  a  man  who  had 
a  short  time  before  been  a  city  official.  Time,  of  course,  as  in  a 
number  of  similar  cases,  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  city  officials  and 
the  lack  of  vision  on  the  part  of  their  critics. 

The  record  of  1907  in  Glendale  would  be  incomplete  if  no  men- 
tion was  made  of  the  action  of  the  Interurban  Railway  Company 
when  on  June  eighth  (being  Saturday)  at  ten  o'clock  at  night  some 
cars  loaded  with  Mexican  laborers  were  run  up  Broadway  and  work 
begun  on  tearing  up  the  railroad  track  from  Brand  Boulevard  to 
Glendale  Avenue. 

Great  excitement  was  naturally  caused  and  a  crowd  of  indignant 
citizens  gathered  and  witnessed  the  act.  Init  were  helpless  to  inter- 
fere. For  some  months  previous  this  portion  of  the  system  had  been 
relegated  to  the  position  of  a  "side  track,"  service  being  given  by  a 
small  car  which  met  the  regular  cars  at  the  Brand  Boulevard  junc- 
tion. The  indignation  of  the  citizens  of  the  east  side  of  the  city  was 
expressed  vigorously,  and  seems  to  have  been  justified  by  several 
facts  in  connection  with  the  history  of  the  road,  one  of  them  being 
that  the  road  as  first  planned  and  upon  which  basis  the  subscri]>ti(>ns 
were  made  to  secure  the  right  of  way.  named  Glendale  .Xvenue  as  the 
terminal,  the  subscribers  being  almost  altogether  citizens  of  that 
section  and  the  people  of  Tropico.  A  committee  waited  upon  the 
officials  of  the  road,  and  were  even  allowed  to  interview  Mr.  Hunt- 
ington, but  no  satisfactory  e.xplan.-ition  was  ever  given,  although  a 
statement  was  made  by  the  superintendent  that  this  branch  of  the 
road  had  yielded  a  profit  of  only  a  few  cents  a  day  for  (|uite  a  period 
of  time  past. 

Mr.  Huntington  stated  that  he  was  guided  in  such  matters  by 
the  reports  and  advice  of  his  subordinates  and  promised  to  investi- 
gate the  situation  personally,  and  so  the  matter  ended  exce(>t  for  the 
natural  results  which  were  bitterness  of  feeling  in  the  community 
and  increased  efforts  to  get  transportation  facilities  by  other  means. 
The  Salt  Lake  company  officials  were  approached  and  the  fact  de- 
veloped that  the  interests  of  the  two  sj'Stems  interlocked  so  that  no 
relief  was  possible  in  that  direction.  The  local  paper  had  the  follow- 
ing to  say  in  regard  to  this  latter  company:  "The  Salt  Lake  road 
cannot  be  depended  upon  for  any  service  that  will  assist  in  the  build- 
ing up  of  Glendale  as  far  as  passenger  traffic  is  concerned,"  which  is 
of  interest  as  being  a  very  close  prophecy  compared  with  the  facts 
and  conditions  that  have  since  occurred  and  still  exist.  This  un- 
explained action  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Company  was  a  serious  blow 


Residence  of  James  F.  Triieiiiaii. 


Ke>i(li.l]ie   1)1    1)1.    T.    C.    Youi 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  143 

to  the  east  side  of  Glendale  from  which  it  inay  fairly  be  said  not 
ever  to  have  recovered. 

The  original  High  School  was  located  on  the  most  important 
business  corner  in  the  city,  at  southeast  corner  of  Brand  Boulevard 
and  Broadway,  now  the  location  of  the  First  National  Bank.  The 
building  of  the  Pacific  Electric  railroad,  turning  as  it  did  to  go 
eastward,  required  that  the  school  district  give  a  small  corner  of 
its  property-  for  .street  purposes  so  that  the  car  tracks  could  make 
the  turn.  The  school  buildings  being  thus  left  in  very  close  prox- 
imity to  the  railroad,  it  was  soon  found  that  the  noise  of  passing 
cars  was  a  serious  annoyance  to  the  school  and  aside  from  this,  the 
demand  for  more  ground  for  High  School  purposes  became  empha- 
sized and  a  new  location  was  decided  upon.  The  site  selected  was  a 
block  further  south,  extending  from  Maryland  Avenue  to  Louise 
Street  and  from  Harvard  to  Cohirado  Streets,  containing  four  and 
one-third  acres  which  was  bought  for  $20,000,  a  price  which  was 
considered  high  for  that  time.  In  April,  1908,  the  district  authorized 
a  bond  issue  of  $60,000  for  new  buildings.  The  grammar  schools 
were  also  beginning  to  be  inadequate  and  in  April  a  mass  meeting 
was  held  to  discuss  the  securing  of  a  new  site  for  another  school 
building,  the  outcome  of  which  was  the  Colorado  Street  school. 

The  size  of  Glendale  at  that  time  is  pretty  well  set  forth  in  an 
item  found  in  the  Glendale  News  under  date  of  January  25.  1908, 
as  follows : 

A  recent  count  of  houses  in  and  about  Glendale  gave  some  sur- 
prising results,  which  we  publish  herewith.  While  the  count  is  not 
exact,  we  have  personally  satisfied  ourselves  that  it  is  approximately 
correct.  Between  San  Fernando  Road  and  Central  .Avenue  and  from 
First  Street  to  Riverdale  Drive,  150;  between  Glendale  Avenue  and 
Central,  230;  east  of  Glendale  Avenue  to  Eagle  Rock,  375;  total,  775. 

This  indicates  a  population  of  3,500  people  and  means  that  we  are 
rapidly  outgrowing  our  country  village  aspect. 

In  this  same  issue  of  the  News  a  few  personal  items  are  worth 
notice.  The  death  is  reported  of  Mr.  H.  N.  Jarvis,  one  of  the  Trop- 
ico  pioneers  who  had  been  active  in  the  early  day  affairs.  Also  ap- 
pears the  funeral  notice  of  W.  R.  Newton,  father  of  one  of  Glendale's 
present  day  business  men.  Rev.  James  O'Neill  announces  Catholic 
services  at  the  G.  A.  R.  hall,  Tropico.  The  first  delinquent  tax  list 
of  the  City  of  Glendale  is  published  in  this  issue,  comprising  about 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  pieces  of  property  and  among  the  names 
of  owners  that  appear  on  the  list,  are  those  of  several  citizens  who 
are  today  recognized  in  the  community  as  having  received  their  re- 
ward for  having  "held  on,"  when  to  do  so  meant  sacrifices  of  per- 
sonal ease  and  comforts  and  hardship  in  general. 


144  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

BEGINNING  OF  1908— PART  TWO 

RESULTS  OF  APRIL  ELECTION.  EVIDENCES  OF  GROWTH.  FINAL 
SETTLEMENT  OF  POOL  ROOM  QUESTION.  THE  INCEPTION  OF 
MUNICIPAL  OWNERSHIP.  LOCATIONS  OF  CITY  HALL  AND  LIBRARY 
DECIDED.  CITY  HALL  BUILT.  CONSOLIDATION  OF  GLENDALE 
WITH  TROPICO  AND  WITH  LOS  ANGELES  AGITATED,  FINALLY  DE- 
CIDED AT  POLLS.  CENSUS  SHOWS  REMARKABLE  GROWTH.  WATER 
COMMITTEE  APPOINTED.  MUNICIPAL  ELECTION  OF  1910,  1912 
AND  1914. 

At  the  election  in  April,  1908,  the  following  trustees  were  elected  : 
Wilmot  Parcher,  William  A.  Anderson,  Thomas  W.  Watson,  John  A. 
Cole  and  Simeon  Grant.  Mr.  Parcher  was  re-elected  chairman  of 
the  Board.  Mr.  George  B.  Woodberry  was  re-elected  city  clerk; 
Thos.  W.  Doyle,  treasurer.  Engineer  Postle  was  succeeded  by  Ed- 
ward M.  Lynch  and  Attorney  Baker  by  John  N.  Metcalf.  Dr.  R.  E. 
Chase,  health  officer  and  Harry  M.  Miller,  marshal. 

On  September  twentieth  Mr.  Parcher  resigned  as  a  member  of 
the  Board  and  Mr.  R.  A.  Blackburn  was  appointed  to  fill  the  va- 
cancy, Mr.  Watson  being  elected  chairman  of  the  Board. 

The  pool  room  question  continued  to  agitate  the  community 
more  or  less,  that  portion  of  the  people  represented  by  the  churches 
continuing  to  protest  against  allowing  the  business  to  be  carried  on. 
In  August  the  license  for  a  pool  room  which  had  been  given  to  L.  F. 
Hadrich  was  by  him  transferred  to  L.  C.  Wardell  with  the  consent 
of  the  Board.  On  December  thirtieth  it  was  ordered  by  the  Board 
that  Mr.  Wardell's  license  be  cancelled  on  January  first  next  and  in 
January  an  ordinance  was  passed  prohibiting  pool  rooms  in  Glen- 
dale  after  July  1,  1909,  Mr.  Wardell  being  meanwhile  permitted  to 
operate. 

Up  to  April.  1908,  the  trustees  served  without  compensation,  but 
at  the  spring  election  of  that  year  the  voters  agreed  to  pay  them 
three  dollars  per  meeting,  limited  to  one  meeting  a  week,  and  this 
remained  the  salary  attached  to  that  office  until  changed  by  the 
charter  in  1921. 

On  October  fifth  school  was  opened  in  the  new  building  recently 
completed  in  the  "West  Glendale"  district,  now  Columbus  Avenue. 

On  September  twentieth  the  Catholic  Church  was  dedicated,  the 
congregation  having  been  gathered  together  and  the  building  con- 
structed through  the  efforts  of  Rev.  Father  James  O'Neill. 

The  corner  stone  of  tlie  new  High  School  was  laid  with  ap- 
propriate ceremonies  on  November  28,  1908.  The  city  was  forging 
steadily  ahead;  a  dozen  different  streets  were  being  improved  simul- 
taneously and  the  tax  assessment  roll  for  the  year  had  passed  the  first 
million  dollars  in  valuation.  There  had  been  a  number  of  changes 
in  the  city  government.  Trustee  J.  C.  Jennings  died,  in  February, 
and  was  succeeded  by  the  appointment  of  Mr.  A.  W.  Randolph  on 
March  fourth,  he  filling  the  position  only  a  few  weeks  until  the  regu- 
lar election  in  April,  1908,  not  being  a  candidate  for  election. 

In  June,  1908,  Station  Agent  Le  Grand  reported  that  the  busi- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  145 

ness   of   the    Pacific    Electric    had    doubled   within   the   last   twelve 
months. 

On  December  9,  1909,  Mr.  J.  M.  Banker,  who  had  been  acting 
Recorder,  resigned  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  J.  Whomes,  who  had 
filled  a  similar  position  at  Redondo  before  becoming  a  resident  of 
Glendale.  Mr.  Whomes  continued  in  this  position  until  his  death, 
in  1917.  Mr.  Metcalf  resigned  the  position  of  city  attorney  on 
March  twenty-fourth  and  Mr.  Frederic  Baker,  who  had  previously 
filled  the  position,  was  appointed  in  his  place.  In  April  Mr.  C.  \V. 
Burkett  was  appointed  Building  and  Plumbing  Inspector,  holding 
the  position  until  October  twentieth  when  he  resigned  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mr.  J.  M.  Banker  who  filled  the  position  until  1920. 

The  question  of  municipal  ownership  had  for  many  months  been 
a  Hve  issue  in  Glendale  and  action  looking  toward  accomplishing 
something  in  this  direction  was  taken  in  the  early  part  of  1909,  when 
the  city  engineer  was  instructed  to  bring  in  a  report  as  to  the  prob- 
able cost  of  taking  over  the  existing  lighting  system  belonging  to  the 
Pacific  Light  and  Power  Company.  The  need  of  street  lights  was  one 
of  the  things  that  urged  to  action  in  the  matter.  The  power  com- 
pany had  offered  to  install  and  operate  lights  for  $30  apiece  monthly, 
a  price  not  considered  favorably  by  the  trustees.  The  whole  matter 
came  to  an  issue  when  an  election  was  called  to  be  held  in  June  to 
vote  on  a  bond  issue  of  $60,000.  The  campaign  that  ensued  was  a 
lively  one.  Although  there  was  evidently  a  good  majority  favoring 
the  bonds  there  was  a  very  active  minority  opposed  to  doing  any- 
thing, and  the  power  company  gave  moral  and  probably  financial 
support  to  this  element. 

There  was  much  circularizing  of  the  town  and  dire  predictions 
were  made  as- to  the  results  that  would  follow  a  venture  into  munic- 
ipal ownership.  There  were  committees  at  work  and  mass  meetings 
held  by  both  parties  and  the  political  atmosphere  was  kept  at  a  high 
temperature  until  the  election  was  over.  The  vote  stood  250  to  78  in 
favor  of  the  bonds  and  so  Glendale  entered  upon  an  experiment 
which  succeeding  years  have  continued  to  demonstrate  as  a  great 
success,  the  project  having  been  a  paying  one  from  the  beginning. 
In  November,  it  was  resolved  to  purchase  the  distributing  system  of 
the  Pacific  Light  and  Power  Company,  which  was  ultimately  done. 
A  contract  was  entered  into  between  the  city  and  the  company  by 
which  the  latter  was  to  furnish  power  for  a  period  of  five  years,  an 
arrangement  which  worked  to  the  apparent  satisfaction  of  both 
parties.  The  city  did  not  go  into  the  water  business  until  later  as 
will  be  related  in  proper  sequence. 

On  August  25.  1909,  Trustee  John  A.  Cole  resigned  and  was 
succeeded  by  John  Robert  White.  Jr. 

Efforts  were  made  from  time  to  time  to  get  the  railroad  com- 
pany to  restore  its  tracks  to  Broadway  from  Brand  Boulevard  to 
Glendale  Avenue,  but  without  success,  a  letter  to  the  trustees  being 
presented  on  October  27 ,  in  which  the  attorney  of  the  company  stated 
that  the  company  would  not  rebuild  the  line  and  offering  to  assign 
the  franchise  if  article  eight  should  be  eliminated,  by  which  trans- 


146  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

fers  were  provided  for.  The  trustees  declined  to  make  the  change 
requested. 

A  petition  had  been  presented  to  the  Board  asking  that  an  effort 
be  made  to  have  the  railroad  company  put  its  rails  on  Brand  Boule- 
vard down  to  grade,  and  thus  at  that  time  began  an  agitation  which 
finally  resulted  in  having  the  tracks  lowered  between  Lexington 
Avenue  and  Colorado  Street,  but  not  elsewhere  along  the  line.  The 
postoffice  had  been  taken  over  by  Los  Angeles,  being  operated  from 
that  office  as  a  branch,  Mr.  Fanset  remaining  in  charge.  By  this 
change  Glendale  received  free  delivery  for  the  principal  portions  of 
the  city,  but  it  is  of  record  that  a  letter  was  received  from  Postmaster 
Flint  in  Januar3%  1909,  calling  attention  to  the  necessity  of  having 
street  names  appear  on  street  corners  and  of  having  residences  and 
business  houses  furnished  with  numbers  in  order  to  facilitate  deliv- 
ery. Mr.  Flint  was  in  turn  requested  to  see  to  it  that  the  postofifice 
lobby  was  kept  open  during  the  evening  as  late  as  eight  o'clock. 

In  December  of  this  year  contract  for  the  transformer  house  on 
the  lot  recently  purchased  on  Glendale  Avenue,  was  awarded  to  Mr. 
G.  W.  Seward  at  $1,657.  The  building  was  completed  in  the  following 
March. 

At  the  April  election  of  1910,  John  Robert  White,  Jr.,  and  H.  P. 
Coker  were  elected  trustees  for  the  four  year  term  and  Mr.  O.  A. 
Lane  for  two  years.  H.  G.  Dominy  was  elected  treasurer  and  failed 
to  qualify,  F.  L.  Church  being  appointed  to  that  position.  Mr.  Wood- 
berry  was  again  elected  clerk. 

Mr.  Church  resigned  as  treasurer  .'Xpril  22,  1911,  and  Mr.  G.  B. 
Hoffman  was  appointed  to  that  office.  On  Xovember  19,  1910,  Mr. 
H.  B.  Lynch  was  appointed  manager  of  the  Public  Service  Depart- 
ment, a  position  which  he  held  until  he  resigned  in  1920. 

On  March  21,  1911,  an  election  took  place  to  determine  the  much 
debated  question  of  the  annexation  to  Glendale  of  a  large  portion  of 
the  Tropico  district.  The  vote  favored  annexation  but  as  the  City 
of  Tropico  had  come  into  existence  a  few  days  previously,  taking  in 
the  most  of  the  territory  involved,  the  annexation  was  not  accom- 
plished. y\nother  election  on  the  consolidation  of  Tropico  and  Glen- 
dale, took  place  December  16,  1911,  the  proposition  being  defeated  by 
a  vote  of  352  for  and  387  against  it  in  the  city  of  Tropico. 

At  the  April  election  of  1910  the  following  were  elected : 
Trustees,  H.  P.  Coker,  O.  A.  Lane,  John  Robert  White,  Jr.,  Clerk 
George  B.  Woodberry;  treasurer,  Thomas  W.  Doyle.  Mr.  Watson 
and  Mr.  William  Anderson  were  the  hold-over  members  of  the  board 
of  trustees.     Mr.   White  was   elected  chairman   of  the  board. 

Up  to  this  time  the  trustees  had  been  giving  their  services  free, 
but  at  this  election  a  proposition  to  pay  them  three  dollars  for  every 
regular  meeting  attended,  was  approved  and  the  compensation 
remained  at  that  figure  until  the  charter  was  adopted  in  1921  when 
it  was  fixed  at  ten  dollars  per  meeting  attended,  limited  to  six  in  a 
month.  Mr.  Frank  L.  Muhleman,  who  had  succeeded  Mr.  Frederic 
Baker  as  city  attorney  on  October  3,  1910,  resigned  the  position  on 


S  '-J 


Di 


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OS 


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23 


GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY  151 

May  8,  1911,  and  Mr.  W.  E.  Evans  was  appointed  city  atti)rney,  serv- 
ing in  that  capacity  for  the  city  until  lie  resigned  in  1920. 

Street  Supt.,  F.  R.  Sinclair,  who  had  rendered  the  city  excellent 
service  during  his  incumbency,  resigned  the  position  in  September, 
1910,  and  the  duties  of  that  office  were  taken  over  by  city  engineer 
E.  M.  Lynch,  who  acted  in  that  capacity  until  1918  when  he  resigned 
to  accept  a  position  as  Captain  in  the  engineering  service  of  the  army 
a  short  time  before  the  armistice. 

An  election  for  the  annexation  of  territory  on  the  west  and' north, 
was  held  on  January  3,  1911,  after  a  particularly  lively  campaign, 
the  vote  being  against  the  proposition. 

On  March  21,  1911,  another  vote  was  taken  and  with  some  slight 
change  in  the  boundaries,  the  territory  became  a  part  of  the  city. 

During  this  same  period  the  city  was  also  agitated  by  the  ques- 
tion of  city  hall  and  library  sites.  Three  lots  on  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  Broadway  and  Jackson  were  offered  for  $4,000  and  three  on 
the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Kenwood  for  $3,500.  One  set  of  citizens 
argued  in  lavor  of  a  single  site  for  both  city  hall  and  library,  while 
others  favored  two  separate  sites.  By  a  straw  vote  the  decision  was 
in  favor  of  the  two  sites,  the  lots  on  Fifth  Street  being  at  the  same 
time  decided  upon  for  the  librar}-.  The  lots  on  the  corner  of  Fourth 
and  Howard  Streets  were  finally  selected  for  the  city  hall,  at  a  cost 
of  $3,170,  a  bond  issue  being  authorized  in  the  amount  of  $18,000, 
which  included  the  construction  of  the  city  hall  and  jiurchase  of  the 
sites.  Ground  having  been  secured  for  a  library  gave  rise  to  another 
topic  for  general  discussion,  viz. :  the  kind  and  the  ways  and  means 
to  be  employed  to  secure  a  library  building. 

There  were  those  who  objected  to  accepting  a  Carnegie  dona- 
tion, one  argument  being  that  the  requirement  that  one  tenth  of  the 
amount  donated  should  be  expended  on  the  library  every  year,  was 
too  heavy  a  financial  burden  to  be  assumed.  However,  the  trustees 
instructed  the  clerk  to  apply  to  Mr.  Carnegie  for  the  sum  of  $20,000, 
which  amount  was,  after  some  exchange  of  letters,  reduced  to  $12,500. 
This  was  the  sum  finally  received  and  the  building  was  completed  in 
1914. 

In  July,  1910,  the  first  water  committee  was  appointed,  the 
trustees  delegating  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  Valley  Im- 
provement Association,  the  appointment  of  five  members  from  each 
of  those  organizations  to  collaborate  with  the  board  of  trustees  in 
an  investigation  of  the  water  question.  On  August  21.  1911.  Mr. 
G.  E.  Williams  was  appointed  trustee,  succeeding  Mr.  W'.  A.  An- 
derson, resigned.  Mr.  Anderson,  being  a  contractor  and  builder, 
having  ceased  to  be  a  city  official  became  eligible  to  bid  on  the  con- 
tract for  the  erection  of  the  city  hall,  and  to  Anderson  &  Murdoch, 
the  lowest  bidders,  the  contract  was  awarded  at  $7,047.50  exclusive 
of  the  heating  apparatus. 

On  October  14,  1911,  an  election  occurred  by  which  more  terri- 
tory was  annexed  on  the  west  side. 

In  addition  to  other  matters  being  agitated  during  this  period, 


152  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

the  consolidation  of  Glendale  and  Tropico  was  a  live  topic  and  on 
October  30,  1911,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  trustees  asking  that 
an  election  be  called  to  determine  the  matter.  To  this  petition  was 
appended  the  signatures  of  222  citizens  of  Tropico  and  143  of  the 
legally  registered  residents  of  Glendale.  The  city  clerk  certified  that 
the  signatures  represented  in  each  case  the  requisite  one-fifth  of  the 
registered  voters  based  on  the  returns  of  the  last  general  election,  and 
was,  therefore,  legally  sufficient  for  its  purpose.  The  election  was 
called  for  the  sixteenth  of  December  following. 

At  a  joint  session  of  the  boards  of  trustees  of  the  two  cities  held 
December  eighteenth  a  canvass  of  the  votes  was  made,  showing  that 
in  Glendale,  273  votes  favored  the  proposition  while  19  were  against 
it.  In  Tropico  there  were  740  votes  cast  of  which  352  were  in  favor 
and  387  against  consolidation. 

In  both  Glendale  and  Tropico  at  this  time  there  were  a  number 
of  citizens  who  favored  annexation  to  Los  Angeles,  the  main  argu- 
ment advanced  by  them  being  that  by  annexation  only,  could  Owens 
River  water  be  secured.  A  petition  was  presented  to  the  Glendale 
trustees  in  November,  1911,  asking  that  body  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  look  into  the  subject  of  annexation  to  Los  Angeles,  and  the  presi- 
dent of  the  board  appointed  Mr.  A.  O.  Lane,  city  trustee;  Mr.  E.  U. 
Emery,  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Mr.  F.  J.  Show- 
alter,  president  of  the  Valley  Improvement  Association  as  such  com- 
mittee. Nothing  ever  came  of  this  and  subsequent  efforts  towards 
becoming  merged  in  the  larger  city,  although  in  Tropico  the  matter 
finally  came  to  a  vote  which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  proposition. 

The  desirability  of  adding  the  Verdugo  Canyon  section  to  the  city 
in  order  to  exercise  some  control  over  the  water  supply,  gave  con- 
siderable impetus  to  the  movement  for  annexation  of  that  district, 
but  when  the  proposition  was  submitted  to  the  voters  on  February 
12,  1912,  it  was  defeated,  principally  through  the  efforts  of  parties 
having  large  land  interests  in  the  canyon,  although  Judge  E.  M.  Ross 
and  Capt.  C.  E.  Thom,  whose  large  acreage  was  included  in  the  dis- 
trict to  be  annexed,  took  a  neutral  stand  in  the  matter,  acknowledging 
the  necessity  existing  for  a  better  control  of  the  water  which  at  that 
time  was  the  city's  only  source  of  supply. 

About  this  time  there  was  also  some  agitation  over  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  public  park.  The  old  picnic  grounds  in  Verdugo  Canyon 
were  generally  recognized  as  desirable  for  park  purposes  and  a  peti- 
tion was  presented  to  the  trustees  asking  that  steps  be  taken  to 
secure  that  property.  The  trustees  appointed  a  committee  to  investi- 
gate the  matter,  but  nothing  came  of  it.  The  price  of  the  43  acres 
embraced  within  the  park,  was  generally  spoken  of  as  $60,000,  but 
no  option  was  ever  obtained.  A  Central  Park  was  also  talked  of,  the 
site  generally  favored  being  the  block  bounded  by  Fourth  (Broad- 
way) Street,  Jackson,  Kenwood  and  Third  (Wilson)  Streets.  Un- 
fortunately neither  of  these  propositions  was  pushed  to  a  successful 
conclusion. 

In  March,  1912,  the  new  City  Hall  was  completed  and  the  city 


/5^- 


"v^- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  155 

government  moved  into  it.  The  building  was  only  half  of  its  pres- 
ent size  (now  1922)  an  addition  havincf  been  made  to  it  which  was 
paid  for  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  public  service  department. 

The  municipal  election  of  April.  1912.  resulted  in  the  election 
of  Messrs.  O.  A.  Lane,  A.  \V.  Tower  and  T.  \V.  \\'atson  as  trustees; 
White  and  Coker  holding  over;  G.  B.  Woodberry,  city  clerk  and 
G.  B.  Hoffman,  treasurer.  Mr.  T.  \\'.  Watson  was  elected  president 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  other  officers  were  appointed  as  fol- 
lows: W.  E.  Evans,  attorney;  J-  M.  Banker,  building  inspector; 
E.  M.  Lynch,  engineer;  O.  W.  Tarr,  street  superintendent;  J. 
Whomes,  recorder. 

In  May,  Mr.  White  resigned  and  the  vacancy  was  filled  by  the 
appointment  of  Mr.  J.  S.  Thomjison  as  against  Mr.  M.  W.  Watson, 
whose  appointment  was  urged  by  a  number  of  citizens  residing  in  the 
western  portion  of  the  city;  both  aspirants  having  strong  backing. 
The  city  was  now  well  launched  upon  an  era  of  great  constructive 
activity;  bond  elections  and  annexation  elections  followed  one  after 
another  in  close  succession. 

A  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  a  Valley  Improvement  .Association 
were  functioning  successfully  working  in  harmony  with  the  govern- 
ing body  of  the  city  in  solving  the  problems  that  confronted  the 
rapidly  growing  community  and  two  weekly  newspapers  were  per- 
forming their  part  in  affording  publicity  and  as  a  medium  of  ex- 
pression, the  latter  quite  frequently  differing  upon  matters  of  public 
policy  and  thus  playing  well  their  part  in  showing  up  both  sides  of  all 
(juestions. 

As  a  necessary  preliminary  to  an  effort  to  obtain  a  Charter  for 
the  city,  a  census  was  ordered  to  be  taken  in  June,  1912,  the  count 
showing  a  population  of  5,510  persons.  This  was  a  very  satisfactory 
evidence  of  growth  as  compared  with  the  census  of  1910  which  gave 
the  city  a  population  of  2,757.  .A  board  of  fifteen  freeholders  was 
elected,  Mr.  Frank  I,.  Muhleman  being  made  chairman  and  after 
several  weeks  of  hard  work  a  charter  was  prepared  and  submitted  to 
the  voters  for  acceptance;  it  was  rejected,  however,  lieing  too  progres- 
sive in  its  provisions  to  meet  the  views  of  the  citizens  as  expressed 
at  the  polls.  This  charter  provided  among  other  things,  for  the  divi- 
sion of  the  city  into  wards  and  for  the  appointment  of  a  city  man- 
ager; these  two  provisions  being  the  ones  over  which  the  greatest 
differences  of  opinion  were  expressed,  and  which  apparently  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  refusal  of  the  people  to  accept  it. 

The  success  of  municipal  ownership  as  demonstrated  in  the 
city's  lighting  system,  and  the  trouble  experienced  with  the  private 
companies  supplying  water,  impelled  the  trustees  to  begin  a  campaign 
for  adding  a  water  department  to  the  city's  public  utilities.  On  June 
,\  1912,  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  appointed  a  water 
commission  consisting  of  the  following  citizens:  A.  C.  .\dy,  H.  Le- 
Grosse,  John  Robert  White  and  J.  C.  Sherer,  to  investigate  and  make 
a  recommendation  to  the  board.  .Afterwards,  Mr.  H.  B.  Lynch  and 
Mr.  G.  B.  Woodberry  were  added  to  the  committee,  with  the  presi- 


156  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

dent  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Mr.  T.  W.  Watson  as  ex-officio 
member.  The  committee  was  authorized  to  employ  experts  to  assist 
in  its  investigations  and  Messrs.  Burns  and  McDonald  were  secured, 
their  fee  being  $1,000. 

In  July  the  report  of  the  experts  was  received  covering  the  sub- 
ject very  exhaustively.  Acting  upon  the  recommendations  in  this 
report,  an  election  was  called  for  October  29,  1912,  asking  the  voters 
to  approve  the  issuance  of  $225,000  in  bonds  to  acquire  a  water  sys- 
tem, by  purchase  of  private  companies  and  otherwise;  also  $65,000 
for  parks  and  $5,000  for  street  working  machinery.  The  last  of  the 
propositions  named  was  approved  in  the  voting,  but  the  community 
was  not  yet  ready  to  embark  in  the  water  business  nor  to  buy  a 
park,  notwithstanding  the  constant  friction  between  consumers  and 
the  local  water  company;  there  being  595  votes  cast  for  the  water 
proposition  and  731  against  it. 

The  agitation  continued  thereafter  with  even  more  energy  and 
display  of  feeling  than  before  the  election.  There  was  considerable 
bitterness  injected  into  the  controversy  and  sectional  feeling  ran 
high.  As  a  general  proposition  the  residents  in  the  older  portion  of  the 
city  were  in  favor  of  the  program  as  outlined  by  the  trustees  and  be- 
lievers in  the  natural  water  supph'  of  the  Verdugo  Canyon,  which 
they  claimed  would  if  properly  developed  supply  the  requirements  of 
the  community  for  years  to  come,  and  being  available  by  gravity  be 
the  cheapest  source  of  supply.  The  opposition  to  this  program  came 
principally  from  the  more  recent  comers,  many  of  whom  believed 
that  as  the-  ultimate  destiny  of  the  community  was  absorption  in 
Los  Angeles,  annexation  should  be  sought  immediately  so  that  a  sup- 
ply of  the  Owens  River  water  might  be  secured ;  and  there  were 
others  who  believed  that  the  solution  of  the  problem  would  be  found 
by  securing  land  along  the  Los  Angeles  river  and  developing  water  by 
wells. 

Both  of  these  classes  were  opposed  to  the  purchase  by  the  city  of 
the  existing  water  companies  and  had  considerable  to  say  about  "rot- 
ten water  pipes."  Finally  a  mass  meeting  was  called  to  discuss  the 
question  and  take  some  action.  The  result  of  this  meeting  was  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  of  eleven  citizens  to  investigate  the 
matter  thoroughly  and  make  some  recommendation  to  the  trustees. 
The  committee  was  allowed  the  sum  of  $1,000  with  which  sum  they 
employed  an  engineer  who  furnished  a  report,  going  into  the  de- 
tails of  the  several  propositions. 

The  committee  labored  four  months,  but  owing  to  the  differences 
of  opinion  among  the  members  was  unable  to  reach  a  decision  even 
approximately  unanimous,  and  in  December,  1913,  submitted  its 
report,  making  only  one  recommendation,  which  was  that  the  trustees 
ask  the  Railroad  Commission  to  put  a  valuation  on  the  properties 
proposed  to  be  purchased  by  the  city. 

Application  was  therefore  made  to  the  commission  to  perform 
this  service  and  in  May,  1914,  the  result  of  the  Commission's  investi- 
gation was  received.     The  valuation  placed  upon  the  various  prop- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  157 

erties  was  $159,234.  This  included  the  system  of  the  Glendale  Con- 
solidated Water  Company,  the  Verdugo  Springs  Water  Company, 
the  Miradora  Water  Company,  and  the  Verdugo  Pipe  and  Reservoir 
Company.  The  above  properties  consisted  of  a  system  of  compara- 
tively small  pipes  covering  the  city  and  2,392  ten-thousandths  of  the 
water  of  Verdugo  Canyon. 

Upon  receiving  this  report  the  trustees  referred  it  to  the  City 
Engineer,  in  conjunction  with  the  City  Manager  and  the  Manager  of 
the  Public  Service  department,  to  prepare  an  estimate  as  to  the 
amount  of  money  that  the  people  should  be  asked  to  authorize  for 
the  purchase  of  the  property  of  the  water  companies.  The  sum 
decided  upon  was  $248,000  and  accordingly  an  election  was  called  to 
authorize  this  issue.  In  the  campaign  which  followed,  and  which  was 
waged  with  considerable  heat,  all  but  two  or  three  of  the  committee 
of  eleven  opposed  the  proposition.  The  antis  formed  a  "Municipal 
League"  and  issued  numerous  circulars  and  two  or  three  numbers 
of  a  lively  sheet  called  the  "Searchlight."  Notwithstanding  the  strong 
organized  opposition,  the  bond  issue  was  authorized  by  a  vote  of 
1,913  to  613,  and  Glendale  entered  into  the  municipal  water  business, 
which  has  been  a  marked  success. 

The  municipal  election  of  April,  1914,  resulted  in  the  election 
of  the  following  officials :  Trustees — Charles  Grist  and  J.  S.  Thomp- 
son, with  Lane,  \\'atson  and  Tower  holding  over;  Treasurer,  G.  B. 
HoiTman ;  Clerk,  J.  C.  Sherer.  Mr.  Watson  was  reelected  president 
of  the  Board. 

In  June  of  this  year  the  Carnegie  Library  building  was  completed 
and  occupied.  Mrs.  Alma  Danford,  who  had  been  connected  with 
library  work  in  the  city  from  the  beginning,  in  the  years  when  the 
state  supplied  a  few  books  and  liberal  citizens  contributed  others, 
was  appointed  Librarian. 

There  was  considerable  agitation  about  this  time,  continuing 
for  several  months,  over  the  question  of  "storm  water."  The  run-oflf 
of  surplus  water  during  heavy  rains  such  as  occasionally  fell,  from 
the  Verdugo  and  the  Sycamore  Canyons,  did  occasional  damage  to 
streets,  and  the  necessity  of  doing  something  in  the  way  of  control 
and  protection  became  apparent.  The  matter  was  taken  up  with 
the  County  supervisors  and  joint  plans  for  a  flood  control  were  worked 
out.  Difficulty  arose,  however,  when  the  district  was  outlined  and 
petitions  of  protest  signed  by  a  majority  of  the  property  owners  in 
the  proposed  district,  were  presented  to  the  supervisors  resulting  in 
the  project  being  abandoned.  This  outcome  of  the  matter  was  a 
fortunate  one  as  the  same  object  was  later  obtained  by  a  county  wide 
bond  issue  and  the  creation  of  a  County  Board  of  Flood  Control  which 
worked  harmoniously  with  the  Glendale  trustees  in  carrying  out 
protective  measures. 

The  merging  of  the  Glendale  post-office  with  that  of  Los  Angeles, 
by  which  the  Glendale  office  became  merely  a  branch  of  the  larger 
city  office,  had  taken  place  in  1909  and  although  the  change  had  re- 
sulted in  establishing  free  carrier  delivery,  it  was  not  satisfactory 


158  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

to  the  Glendale  people  generally  and  in  May,  1914,  a  petition  was 
forwarded  to  Washington  asking  for  an  independent  office.  This 
petition  bore  the  names  of  1,200  people  and  although  it  had  the  sup- 
port of  the  congressman  of  the  district,  the  department  refused  to 
take  action  and  it  was  not  until  1922  that  the  Glendale  postoffice  was 
made  independent  and  strictly  a  local  institution,  as  it  was  in  the 
beginning  of  the  city's  life. 

An  important  change  was  made  in  the  city  government  on  June 
fifteenth  of  this  year  when  trustee  Thomas  W.  Watson  resigned  and 
was  appointed  Citj'  Manager.  Under  the  general  state  law  providing 
a  form  of  government  for  cities  of  the  sixth  class,  under  which  law 
Glendale  was  working  as  a  municipality,  no  provision  is  made  for 
such  an  official,  but  the  growth  of  the  city  had  now  assumed  such 
proportions  and  so  many  problems  were  arising  from  time  to  time, 
that  the  trustees  assumed  the  responsibility  of  creating  the  office 
by  ordinance  and  subsequent  events  ])r(ned  the  wisdom  of  their 
action.  Mr.  O.  A.  Lane  succeeded  Mr.  \\'atson  as  Chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  and  the  vacancy  on  the  board  was  filled  by  the 
ai)pointment  of  Mr.  George  S.  Williams  as  trustee. 

On  May  3,  1915.  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  Trustees  asking 
that  steps  be  taken  to  secure  the  reorganization  of  the  city  as  a  munic- 
il)ality  of  the  fifth  class.  This  move  was  the  culmination  of  the 
efforts  of  an  organization  called  the  Municipal  League,  composed 
principally  of  citizens  who  were  opposed  to  the  administration  and 
were  active  in  keeping  up  an  agitation  that  was  not  often  construc- 
tive in  its  character.  The  City  Attorney  advised  that  as  a  preliminary 
in  the  legal  requirements  of  the  case,  the  first  thing  to  be  done,  was 
to  have  a  census  of  the  city  taken  showing  that  the  population  was 
such  as  to  justify  the  organization  proposed.  The  matter  dragged 
on  for  several  months  and  at  last  it  was  determined  to  wait  until  the 
next  general  election,  occurring  in  the  following  April,  and  submit 
the  question  to  the  voters  at  that  time.  \\'hen  this  was  done  re- 
organization was  defeated  at  the  ballot  box  by  a  vote  of  94  to  312. 

It  was  in  April  of  this  year  (1915)  that  the  city  took  over  the 
private  water  companies.  These  purchases  were  as  follows :  Con- 
solidated Water  Company,  contrtilled  by  L.  C.  Brand,  at  a  price  of 
$79,663.94;  V'erdugo  Springs  Company,  owned  i)y  Thom  and  Ross 
principally,  price  $51,157.80;  Miradora  Water  Company,  owned  by 
Mr.  Brand,  price  $25,114;  Verdugo  Pipe  &  Reservoir  Companv  about 
$14,000. 

This  launched  the  city  upon  the  municipal  ownership  and  control 
of  water  and  immediately  began  to  give  noticeabh'  improved  water 
service.  This  subject  is  covered  in  detail  in  the  chapter  on  Water. 
In  August  of  this  year  the  assessor  rendered  his  report  on  valua- 
tions, in  which  the  following  details  were  given:  Number  of  acres 
within  the  city,  3,068;  assessed  valuation,  $4,311,865.  During  this 
year  the  City  Manager  started  a  comprehensive  campaign  of  tree 
planting  along  the  streets  of  the  city  which  resulted  in  lining  the 
principal  streets  with  attractive  shade  trees  which  today  constitute 
one  of  its  principal  assets. 


J2 


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GLEN'DALE  AND  VICINITY  163 

THE  MUNICIPALITY  OF  GLENDALE— PART  THREE 

CONSOLIDATION"  OF  GLEXDALE  AND  TROPICO  FINALLY  ACCOM- 
PLISHED. DEATH  OF  JUDGE  WHOMES  WHO  IS  SUCCEEDED  BY 
FRANK  H.  LOWE.  CHANGE  IN  STREET  NAMES  AND  STREET  NUM- 
BERING SYSTEM.  MERGER  OF  TELEPHONE  COMPANIES.  AGITA- 
TION OVER  RAISE  OF  RATES  BY  PUBLIC  UTILITY  COMPANIES. 
BOND  ISSUE  OF  $260,000  FOR  THE  WATER  SYSTEM.  COLLECTION  OF 
TAXES  TURNED  OVER  TO  THE  COUNTY.  PURCHASE  OF  PATTER- 
SON AVENUE  PARK.  U.  S.  CENSUS  GIVES  BIRTH  TO  A  SLOGAN. 
ELECTION  OF  1920.  BOARD  OF  FREEHOLDERS  ELECTED.  RESIGNA- 
TION OF  CITY  ATTORNEY  EVANS  AND  APPOINTMENT  OF  MR. 
HARTLEY  SHAW.    DISTRICT  SEWER  SYSTEMS  ESTABLISHED. 

The  municipal  election  of  April,  1916.  was  not  marked  by  any 
unusual  features,  although  the  vote  on  trustees  was  a  close  one.  The 
result  was  as  follows:  Trustees  elected,  R.  M.  Jackson,  Frank  L. 
Muhleman,  George  B.  Woodberry;  Treasurer,  G.  B.  Hoffman;  Clerk, 
J.  C.  Sherer.  The  holdover  trustees  were  Charles  Grist  and  J.  S. 
Thompson.  Mr.  Thompson  was  elected  chairman  of  the  board.  In 
March  of  this  year  the  city  completed  its  third  well  on  the  property 
owned  by  the  municipality,  on  San  Fernando  road,  the  same  supply- 
ing about  225  inches  of  water,  making  the  total  output  of  the  wells 
over  500  inches,  which,  added  to  the  gravity  supply  in  Verdugo  Can- 
yon, seemed  to  assure  an  abundance  of  water  for  years  to  come. 

The  consolidation  of  Glendale  and  Tropico,  which  had  been  a 
live  question  for  many  months,  now  began  to  assume  a  concrete  form 
and  a  committee  of  five  was.  on  June  ninteenth,  appointed  by  the 
Glendale  Board  of  Trustees  to  meet  with  a  similar  committee  to  be 
appointed  by  Tropico,  to  consider  the  matter  and  make  a  report. 

On  July  thirteenth  the  committee  filed  its  report  with  the  Glen- 
dale Trustees,  consisting  of  a  series  of  questions  formulated  with  a 
view  to  disclosing  the  ideas  of  the  ruling  powers,  of  the  larger  city, 
in  regard  to  certain  improvements  desired  by  Tropico,  in  the  event 
of  consolidation,  and  particularly  as  to  extension  of  the  public  utili- 
ties to  the  territory  to  be  acquired  by  Glendale.  These  questions 
having  been  satisfactorily  answered,  the  campaign  for  consolidation 
reached  its  final  stage  and  on  August  5,  1916,  the  election  occurred. 
The  result  of  the  election  in  Tropico  was  as  follows :  In  favor  of 
consolidation,  381 ;  opposed,  393.  This  close  vote  gave  encourage- 
ment to  both  parties  and  the  contest  continued  to  enliven  the  com- 
munity more  or  less  until  it  came  to  an  issue  at  the  polls  again  a  little 
over  a  year  later  when  at  another  election,  held  on  November  21, 
1917,  the  matter  was  finally  decided  by  Tropico  casting  a  vote  of  650 
votes  in  favor  of  consolidation  against  211  opposed.  This  result  was 
formally  accepted  on  the  part  of  the  City  of  Glendale  by  ordinance, 
the  official  date  of  the  consolidation  being  January  9,  1918. 

The  merging  of  the  two  cities  into  one  municipality  brought  to 
a  happy  culmination  the  efforts  of  the  citizens  on  the  northern  and 
southern  ends  of  the  community  to  get  together,  and  put  an  end 
to  manifestations  of  local  jealousy  which,  from  time  to  time  for 
years,  divided  the  people  on  the  two  sides  of  an  imaginary  line.   The 


164  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

consolidation  into  a  Greater  Glendale  of  a  naturally  homogeneous 
community  enabled  them  to  work  out  together  their  manifest  destiny. 
In  the  interval  between  the  two  elections,  Tropico  had  voted  on  the 
proposition  of  being  annexed  to  Los  Angeles,  the  election  occurring 
on  August  29,  1917,  resulting  in  defeating  that  project  by  a  vote  of 
548  to  333. 

At  the  end  of  June,  1916,  the  report  of  the  Public  Service  de- 
partment showed  a  business  of  $100,000  for  the  year,  with  a  profit  of 
$50,000  since  the  organization  of  the  department,  after  making  allow- 
ance for  depreciation.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the  city  for  this 
year  (1916)  was  $5,062,315.  In  January,  1917,  Judge  Joseph'Whomes, 
who  had  served  the  city  in  the  capacity  of  Recorder  for  eight  years, 
resigned  the  position  on  account  of  poor  health.  His  death  occurred 
a  few  weeks  later  and  the  Board  of  Trustees  adojjted  resolutions  of 
regret  for  the  loss  of  a  valuable  public  official  and  a  good  citizen. 
Mr.  Frank  H.  Lowe  was  appointed  Recorder  and  still  serves  in  that 
capacity. 

On  July  1,  1917,  the  city's  five-year  contract  with  the  Pacific 
Light  and  Power  Company  to  furnish  electricity,  expired,  and  the 
Manager  of  the  Public  Service  department  reported  that  the  Southern 
California  Edison  Company  was  the  only  concern  that  another  con- 
tract could  be  made  with,  the  first-named  company  not  desiring  to 
renew  the  lease  and  the  City  of  Los  Angeles  not  yet  being  able  to 
deliver  power.  Interest  attaches  to  this  statement  because  of  the 
fact  that  five  years  previously  when  power  was  sought  by  the  city, 
the  city  of  Los  Angeles  was  at  that  time  desirous  of  making  a  con- 
tract with  Glendale  to  supply  power  (deliverable  in  a  few  months' 
time)  and  the  trustees  were  subject  to  considerable  criticism  for 
not  accepting  the  offer. 

On  August  9,  1917,  Mr.  G.  B.  Hoffman,  who  had  served  as 
Treasurer  for  six  years,  died  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  J.  W.  Stauf- 
facher.  Mr.  Hoffman  was  a  man  of  ability  and  culture,  a  naturalized 
citizen  of  high  standing  in  the  community.  The  assessed  valuation 
of  the  city  this  year  was  $6,094,815. 

In  November,  Glendale  contributed  the  sum  of  $750  towards  the 
construction  of  the  bridge  over  the  river  at  Ivanhoe,  there  having 
been  more  or  less  agitation  in  favor  of  this  improvement  for  several 
months,  the  city  of  Los  Angeles,  owing  to  the  stringency  of  war 
times,  having  decided  to  construct  the  bridge,  deferring  action,  had 
asked  for  the  assistance  of  Glendale  and  Burbank.  The  bridge  was 
soon  afterwards  built. 

The  year  1917  was  a  difficult  year  for  public  enterprises  on 
account  of  war  conditions,  the  edict  of  the  government  having  gone 
forth  that  all  projects  for  public  improvements  which  were  not 
strictly  necessary  should  be  held  in  abeyance.  There  was  conse- 
quently very  little  being  done  in  the  nature  of  street  improvements, 
etc.,  in  Glendale  or  elsewhere  at  this  time.  As  an  indirect  result  of 
the  great  world  contest,  there  was  an  advance  generall)'  in  the  cost 
to  the  consumer  of  the  service  of  public  utilities;  the  price  of  gas  and 
telephone  service  was  advanced  to  rates  that  appeared  to  the  people 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  165 

of  Glendale  unwarranted  in  both  cases  and  there  resulted  vigorous 
eflForts  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  of  citizens  generally, 
to  secure  some  modification  of  rates.  Municipal  ownership  of  both 
of  these  necessities  was  advocated  by  petition  and  in  mass  meetings, 
even  going  to  the  extent  of  employing-  experts  to  report  upon  the 
valuation  of  both  of  these  utilities  in  Glendale,  and  calling  upon  the 
Railroad  Commission  to  take  action  enabling  the  municipality  to 
take  them  both  over.  After  a  great  deal  of  agitation  and  the  failure 
of  the  Railroad  Commission  to  take  any  action,  interest  in  the  matter 
gradually  died  down  and  the  increased  cost  of  the  service  of  both 
companies  was  accepted  as  a  necessary  evil. 

In  the  early  part  of  1918  the  matter  of  changing  street  names 
and  the  system  of  street  numbering  generally  was  taken  up  and 
pushed  vigorously  by  its  proponents.  In  the  early  days  of  the  city 
the  streets  had  been  named  according  to  a  system  that  at  that  time 
seemed  practical  and  satisfactory.  The  center  of  population  at  that 
time  was  considered  to  be  a  little  east  of  Glendale  Avenue,  and 
there  was  no  principal  east  and  west  street  in  existence,  Broadway 
not  having  been  improved  and  ranking  merely  as  one  of  the  east 
and  west  streets.  This  being  the  condition,  the  street  now  called 
Adams,  was  considered  as  the  central  thoroughfare  north  and  south 
and  was  named  "A"  street,  the  next  on  the  west  was  "B"  street,  then 
came  "C"  street,  etc.,  ending  in  that  direction  with  "O"  street,  now 
Orange.  Westward  of  that,  in  1906.  imagination  pictured  no  settle- 
ment worthy  of  attention ;  while  there  were  no  north  and  south 
streets  east  of  "A"  street  except  Verdugo  Road,  long  known  by  that 
name.  Numbering  began  at  "A"  street,  west  and  east  but  principally 
westward.  The  geographical  center  of  the  young  city  north  and 
south  was  guessed  to  be  "First"  Street  (now  Lexington  Avenue) 
and  numbers  started  from  there  in  the  other  direction.  This  system 
had  lasted  twelve  years  and  was  clearly  outgrown,  it  being  generally 
conceded  that,  for  present  purposes,  the  center  of  the  city  was  at 
Brand  Boulevard  and  Broadway.  There  was  therefore  little  opposi- 
tion to  commencing  to  number  the  streets  at  that  point.  The  most 
radical  change  in  street  nomenclature  was  that  which  did  away  with 
the  numbered  streets,  substituting  Lexington  Avenue  for  First  Street, 
California  for  Second.  Wilson  for  Third,  etc.  Previous  to  this  the 
streets  given  letters  only  for  names,  had  been  changed  using  the 
same  letters  attaching  to  the  streets  as  initials  for  the  names  substi- 
tuted, as  Adams  for  "A"  Street,  Belmont  for  "B"  Street,  etc. 

In  September,  1917,  Mr.  A.  W.  Randolph,  who  at  one  time 
served  by  appointment  as  a  city  trustee,  met  his  death  while  crossing 
the  railroad  track  at  Burbank.  The  Board  of  Trustees  passed  a  eulo- 
gistic resolution  lamenting  the  loss  of  a  good  citizen. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  there  was  a  merger  of  the  Home 
Telephone  with  the  "Sunset"  company.  The  "Home"  had  been  the 
pioneer  telephone  company  in  Glendale  and  its  elimination  was 
another  evidence  of  resistless  change  which  is  usually  called  progress. 

In  January,  1918.  the  most  extensive  street  opening  project  yet 
brought  about  by  the  city  was  completed.    This  was  the  condemna- 


166  GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY 

tion  of  a  strip  of  land  one  hundred  feet  wide  south  of  Broadway  and 
eighty  feet  in  width  north  of  that  thoroughfare,  extending  the  entire 
length  of  the  city  at  that  point,  for  Sycamore  Canyon  Road,  the  same 
being  intended  for  a  combination  street  and  storm  water  course.  The 
number  of  assessments  included  in  this  procedure  was  1,584,  and  the 
amount  of  money  paid  for  the  condemned  property  was  $35.339.,31. 
A  number  of  efforts  to  improve  this  right  of  way  have  been  made  and 
at  this  time  appearances  indicate  that  during  1923,  this  thoroughfare 
will  be  completed. 

At  the  municipal  election  in  April,  1918,  the  newly  annexed  terri- 
tory at  the  southerly  extremity  of  the  city,  secured  two  members  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  Hartley  Shaw  and  C.  H.  Henry.  The  Board 
now  consisted  of  C.  H.  Henry,  R.  M.  Jackson.  F.  L.  Muhleman. 
Hartley  Shaw  and  George  B.  Woodberry.  Mr.  Wtjodberry  was 
chosen  chairman  of  the  Board.  Soon  after  the  consolidation  with 
Tropico,  the  Board  of  Trustees  took  up  with  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  the  subject  of  changing  the  name  of  the  company's 
station  to  Glendale  and  after  considerable  agitation  the  change  was 
made  taking  effect  on  August  10,  1918. 

In  May,  1918,  the  City  of  Glendale  paid  Mr.  I,.  C.  Brand  $55,500 
for  the  water  system  serving  the  former  city  of  Tropico,  payment 
being  made  by  a  bond  issue  authorized  by  the  district  covered. 

The  Charter  election  called  for  July  ninth  of  that  year,  was  not 
held,  conditions  not  seeming  to  warrant  any  change  of  government  at 
that  time. 

Arrangements  were  completed  in  July  for  the  construction  of 
a  new  bridge  at  Brand  Boulevard  and  Arden  Avenue  and  the  straight- 
ening of  the  channel  of  the  wash  at  that  point.  This  was  the  culmina- 
tion of  several  months  of  effort  on  the  part  of  the  city  to  get  the 
railroad  company  and  the  county  of  Los  Angeles  and  the  County 
Flood  Control  commission  together  on  the  proposition. 

On  October  thirty-first  George  H.  Herald  resigned  as  City  Mar- 
shal and  was  succeeded  by  J.  P.  Lampert  on  December  1st. 

In  a  report  by  an  expert  employed  to  investigate  the  telephone  sit- 
uation, the  fact  was  developed  that  the  telephone  company  had  in 
Glendale,  at  this  time,  2,900  sul)scribers.  The  estimated  cost  of  a  mu- 
nicipal telephone  system  was  given  as  $263,606. 

On  January  ninth,  engineer  E.  M.  Lynch  having  resigned.  Mr. 
H.  A.  Eddy  was  appointed  City  Engineer. 

On  April  12,  1919,  Mr.  George  B.  Woodberry,  who  had  accepted 
the  presidency  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  with  a  proviso  of  his  own 
that  he  should  only  fill  that  position  for  a  short  time,  resigned  as 
head  of  the  city's  governing  body,  and  Mr.  Frank  L.  Muhleman,  for 
several  years  a  well  known  and  publicly  active  citizen  of  Glendale  and 
a  lawyer  in  high  standing,  was  elected  president.  Mr.  Woodberry 
served  out  the  remainder  of  his  term  as  trustee  and  declined  to  stand 
for  re-election  in  1920.  He  had  been  connected  with  the  city  govern- 
ment for  six  years  as  City  Clerk  from  the  organization  of  the  city, 
declining  to  be  again  a  candidate  for  the  position.  Much  of  the  suc- 
cess of  the  new  city  had  been  brought  about  by  Mr.  Woodberry  s 


GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY  167 

intelligent  aiul  untiring  efforts  as  clerk,  and  the  added  two  years 
of  service  as  trustee  served  to  emphasize  his  value  as  a  public  servant, 
but  he  preferred  to  retire  to  private  life,  although  continuing  active  in 
civic  affairs  up  to  the  present  time  upon  all  occasions  when  the  city 
had  occasion  to  call  upon  its  citizens  for  unofficial  action. 

A  change  of  considerable  importance  was  inaugurated  this  year 
in  passing  the  work  i>i  assessing  and  collecting  taxes  over  to  the 
County  of  Los  Angeles,  relieving  the  local  government  of  consider- 
able labor  and  expense. 

An  important  liond  election  was  held  on  November  twelfth  when 
the  proposition  to  bond  the  city  in  the  sum  of  $260,000  for  the  purpose 
of  developing  the  water  distributing  system  by  the  construction  of 
reservoirs  and  the  laying  of  mains  and  in  developing  additional 
water,  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  974  to  284.  The  County  Flood  Con- 
trol commission  in  the  fall  and  early  winter  of  this  year  put  in  a  line 
of  protection  work  along  the  Verdugo  Wash  on  the  entire  northerly 
frontage  of  Glendale  along  that  occasional  stream,  thus  bringing  to 
completion  a  work  that  had  been  contemplated  for  a  number  of  years. 

In  1920  conditions  had  improved  generally  throughout  the  coun- 
try so  that  affairs  were  being  stabilized,  more  or  less,  and  the  city  of 
Glendale  took  on  new  life  and  energy  and  a  few  projects  that  had 
been  "hanging  fire"  were  pushed  through  successfully.  Early  in 
the  year  the  city  trustees  having  received  from  Mr.  J.  R.  Gray  a  very 
liberal  offer,  bought  of  him  ten  acres  for  park  purposes,  at  a  price 
of  about  a  thousand  dollars  an  acre.  This  land  lies  at  the  western  end 
of  Patterson  Avenue  south  of  the  wash  and  gives  promise  of  becoming 
one  of  the  valuable  assets  of  the  city  when  contemplated  improve- 
ments shall  have  been  made.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the  city  for 
this  year  was  $9,384,535  as  against  $7,692,995  for  the  previous  year, 
showing  that  notwithstanding  war  time  conditions  the  city  had  con- 
tinued uninterruptedly  on  its  progressive  course. 

This  idea  was  confirmed  from  a  very  high  source  when  the 
returns  of  the  United  States  census  of  that  year  were  made  public, 
showing  that  Glendale  led  all  the  cities  of  the  Union  in  percentage 
of  growth  in  population  during  the  decade  just  ended.  The  ofificial 
figures  were  as  follows:  Population  of  Glendale  in  1910,  2,746;  in 
1920,  13,536. 

The  assessed  valuation  of  the  city  area  was  now,  1920,  $12,- 
488,379.  This  evidence  of  increase  in  population  gave  birth  to  the 
slogan,  "The  fastest  growing  city  in  America" ;  and  in  the  three 
years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  census  was  taken,  there  is  ample 
evidence  to  show  that  this  percentage  of  increase  had  been  steadily 
expanding,  as  there  are  within  the  corporate  limits  of  Glendale  at 
this  time  about  35,000  people.  This  growth  is  little  short  of  phe- 
nomenal and  can  only  be  attributed  to  a  combination  of  natural 
advantages  and  a  sane  and  yet  progressive  local  government  of  their 
own  by  a  class  of  people  who  are  appreciative  of  the  favors  of  Provi- 
dence and  alive  to  their  own  responsibilities. 

In    February,    1920,   Dr.    R.    E.   Chase   resigned   the  position  of 


168  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

health  officer  of  the  city,  which  he  had  filled  very  satisfactorily  for 
several  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  J.  E.  Eckels. 

On  April  first,  Mr.  H.  A.  Eddy,  who  had  served  as  city  engineer 
since  January,  1919,  resigned  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Courtland 
T.  Hill. 

In  the  April  election  of  1920.  Mrs.  Ann  P.  Bartlett,  Spencer  Rob- 
inson and  Dwight  W.  Stephenson  were  the  newly  elected  members 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Mr.  Hartley  Shaw  being  elected  president 
of  that  body.  In  July  of  this  year  occurred  the  death  of  Mr.  R.  M. 
Jackson,  who  had,  in  .April  just  passed,  completed  a  four-year  term 
as  a  trustee  of  the  city.  Mr.  Jackson,  although  comparatively  a 
recent  comer,  had  established  a  reputation  as  a  progressive  and  useful 
citizen,  having  served  as  secretary  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
performed  other  civic  duties  in  a  manner  that  made  him  man)'  friends. 

In  June,  Mr.  John  P.  Lampert  resigned  as  City  Marshal  and  Mr. 

C.  E.  Stanley  was  appointed  to  that  office.  In  October  following, 
Mr.  Stanley  resigned  and  Mr.  Lampert  was  reappointed. 

The  matter  of  a  new  charter  was  at  last  brought  to  an  issue  by 
an  election  on  November  16,  1920.  when  a  Board  of  Freeholders  was 
elected  as  follows:  Bert  P.  Woodard.  Chairman;  Dr.  Jessie  A.  Rus- 
sell, A.  W.  Beach.  C.  E.  Kimlin,  R.  M.  McGee.  F.  L.  Muhleman,  May 
E.  Myton.  W.  R.  Phelon,  Mabel  L.  Tight,  F.  H.  Vesper.  George  B. 
Woodberry,  George  H.  Bentley,  C.  \V.  Ingledue.  Henry  Johnson,  C. 

D.  Lusby.  The  Board  completed  its  work  and  the  proposed  charter 
was  filed  on  the  twelfth  of  January  following. 

On  December  30,  1920,  Mr.  W.  E.  Evans  resigned  as  City  Attor- 
ney, a  position  he  had  filled  for  almost  ten  years,  during  which  period 
he  had  piloted  the  growing  city  through  a  numl^er  of  difficult  situa- 
tions. The  city  was  fortunate  in  having  at  hand  to  put  into  the  city 
attorney's  office  a  lawyer  of  experience  in  municipal  afTairs.  as  well  as 
in  general  law,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Hartley  Shaw,  the  president  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees.  To  assume  the  duties  of  this  position,  Mr. 
Shaw  resigned  as  a  trustee  of  the  city  and  was  immediately  made  city 
attorney.  The  vacancy  on  the  Board  was  filled  by  the  appointment 
of  Mr.  A.  H.  Lapham.  who  was  sworn  in  as  a  trustee  on  January  6, 
1921.  Mr.  Dwight  W.  Stephenson  was  elected  chairman  of  the 
Board. 

A  much  needed  improvement  in  the  water  system  was  provided 
for  in  December,  1920,  when  the  city  purchased  of  Judge  E.  M.  Ross, 
for  the  sum  of  $7,000,  a  site  for  a  reservoir  on  Verdugo  Road  a  short 
distance  above  the  mouth  of  Verdugo  Canyon,  which  was  completed 
some  six  months  later,  with  a  capacity  of  seven  and  a  half  million 
gallons  and  costing  $85,000.  .'\  large  acreage  of  high  class  residence 
property  along  the  base  of  the  hills  above  the  valley  came  under  the 
gravity  water  system  of  the  city  and  at  once  entered  upon  an  era  of 
rapid  development. 

The  year  1921  opened  with  every  promise  of  continued  prosperity 
and  growth.  The  total  value  of  buildings  erected  during  the  previous 
year  as  shown  by  the  record  of  the  permits  issued  by  the  Superinten- 
dent of  Building,  was  $5,099,201.    The  total  number  of  water  connec- 


1  TJ»"  JEhTSENS  PALACEZCKaND  SHOPS 


IHHiii 


Tlic   Jiiisfii    BuildiiiL 


The  HarrowiT  l.alioiatorv. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  171 

tions  on  July  1,  1920,  was  4,229.  increasing  within  the  following  year 
to  5,242. 

Under  these  conditions,  the  local  authorities  began  to  prepare 
vigorously  for  the  future  growth  and  importance  of  the  municipality. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  for  dividing  the  city 
into  residential,  business  and  commercial  sections.  A  business  dis- 
trict had  previously  been  set  aside  for  the  location  of  factories,  lumber 
yards,  etc.,  along  the  San  Fernando  road  adjoining  the  tracks  of 
the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  and  various  concerns  had  already 
located  there.  An  advisory  committee  of  citizens  was  appointed  to 
consider  and  report  on  the  matter  of  a  sewer  system  for  the  city. 
The  need  of  such  a  system  began  to  be  felt  in  the  congested  business 
district  in  the  center  of  the  city,  and  after  considerable  investigation 
and  preliminary  work,  a  district  covering  this  territory  was  outlined 
and  a  system  adopted  to  cost  approximately  $31,296.  This  work  was 
completed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year.  Another  similar  sj'stem  with 
a  local  disposal  plant  was  constructed  in  Verdugo  Canyon,  which  had 
developed  during  the  past  two  or  three  years  into  a  high  class  resi- 
dential section.  The  first  named  system  was  financed  by  an  assess- 
ment on  the  property  within  the  district  and  the  latter  by  a  bond  issue 
voted  upon  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  benefited  and  covering 
a  limited  territory,  in  the  amount  of  $50,000.  Both  districts  were 
planned  with  a  view  of  becoming  a  part  of  a  general  system  to  be 
established  in  the  near  future.  Annexations  of  territory  in  the  north- 
west along  the  base  of  the  hills  towards  Burbank  had  added  to  Glen- 
dale's  area  a  large  addition  of  choice  residence  property  and  that  sec- 
tion had  within  the  past  year  started  upon  an  era  of  wonderful  devel- 
opment consisting  of  the  erection  of  a  great  many  residences,  the 
opening  and  improvement  of  streets  and  the  installation  of  water 
mains  and  reservoirs.  The  territorial  area  of  the  city  was  now  eleven 
square  miles. 

THE  MUNICIPALITY  OF  GLENDALE— PART  FOUR 

GLENDALE  UNDER  THE  CHARTER,  RESULTS  OF  THE  ELECTION. 
RESIGNATION  OF  T.  \V.  WATSON.  CHANGES  IN  OFFICES  OF  TREA- 
SURER AND  CLERK.  W.  H.  REEVES  APPOINTED  CITY  MANAGER 
STATISTICS  SHOWING  GROWTH.  THE  VARIOUS  DEPARTMENTS  OF 
THE  CITY  GOVERNMENT.    DATES  OF  VARIOUS  ANNEXATIONS 

On  March  29,  1921,  the  voters  ratified  the  new  charter.  There 
was  nothing  radical  or  revolutionary  in  this  new  code  and  there  was 
practically  no  opposition  to  it.  It  provided  for  a  City  Manager,  but 
this  merely  furnished  a  law  to  fit  a  fact  that  had  been  in  existence 
ever  since  1914,  when  the  city  trustees  by  ordinance  created  the 
office  although  there  was  no  provision  for  such  an  office  in  the  general 
law  governing  municipalities  of  the  sixth  class  such  as  Glendale  was. 
The  election  for  officers  under  the  charter  occurred  on  June  28.  1921. 
There  were  fifteen  candidates  for  the  five  positions  on  the  council; 
four  for  the  office  of  clerk  and  one  only  for  treasurer. 

The  following  were  elected  Councilmen :  S.  A.  Davis.  C.  E. 
KimJin,  A.  H.  Lapham,  Spencer  Robinson  and  Dwight  W.  Stephen- 


172  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

son.  Messrs.  Davis,  Robinson  and  Kimlin  having  received  the  highest 
number  of  votes  were  declared  elected  for  the  four  year  term  and 
Messrs.  Lapham  and  Stephenson  for  the  .short  term  of  two  years. 
J.  C.  Sherer  was  elected  clerk  and  J.  W.  Stauffacher,  treasurer.  A 
Board  of  Education  was  elected  consisting  of  the  following:  Eva  C. 
Barton,  David  Black,  D.  J.  Hibben.  Nettie  C.  Brown  and  P.  C.  Lucas. 
Mr.  Spencer  Robinson  was  chosen  Mayor  and  Acting  President  of 
the  Council.  The  following  appointments  were  made  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  newl}-  elected  councilmen  :  Judge  of  Police  Court, 
Frank  H.  Lowe;  Controller  (a  new  office),  H.  A.  Harrison. 

On  August  eleventh,  Mr.  Thomas  \V.  Watson  resigned  the  posi- 
tion of  City  Manager  which  he  had  held  ever  .since  the  office  was 
created.  In  leaving  the  service  of  the  city,  Mr.  Watson  closed  a 
career  of  unbroken  service  to  the  city  covering  the  entire  period  of 
its  existence  of  fifteen  years.  In  the  capacity  of  Trustee,  President  of 
the  Board  and  City  Manager  he  rendered  to  the  city  intelligent  and 
valuable  service. 

Mr.  Watson  was  succeeded  b)-  Mr.  W.  H.  Reeves  as  City  Man- 
ager. Mr.  Reeves  was  a  citizen  of  Pasadena,  but  immediately  re- 
moved to  Glendale  and  entered  vigorously  upon  the  duties  of  the 
office. 

On  September  fifteenth,  Mr.  J.  P.  Lampert  resigned  as  Chief  of 
Police  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  A.  O.  Martin.  Mr.  Lampert  had 
given  general  satisfaction  in  the  difficult  position  that  he  was  leaving 
and  retired  to  private  life  with  expressions  of  sincere  regret  by  the 
council. 

Other  appointments  under  the  charter  were  as  follows;  A.  H. 
Lankford,  Chief  of  Fire  department;  Dr.  J.  E.  Eckles,  Health  Officer; 
C.  T.  Hill,  Engineer;  F.  A.  Marek.  Building  Superintendent;  P.  Died- 
erich,  Superintendent  of  Plant  and  Production;  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  Com- 
mercial Agent.  On  September  1st,  Mr.  Hartley  Shaw  resigned  as 
City  Attorney  and  Mr.  Bert  P.  Woodard  was  appointed  to  the  posi- 
tion. On  October  3,  1921,  Mr.  J,  W.  Stauflfacher  resigned  as  city 
treasurer  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Sherer  was  appointed  to  the  position,  having 
resigned  as  city  clerk.  Mr.  J.  W.  Blake  was  appointed  city  clerk, 
but  after  serving  about  ten  days  resigned  and  Mr.  A.  J.  Van  Wie 
was  made  clerk. 

The  opening  of  the  year  1922  found  the  city  in  the  midst  of  its 
most  prosperous  period  and  throughout  the  year  this  condition  con- 
tinued unbroken.  The  work  of  street  improvement  which  had  been 
held  back  during  and  for  a  time  after  the  great  war,  was  resumed 
with  an  impetus  that  promised  to  make  up  for  lost  time.  The  number 
of  street  improvement  proceedings  carried  through  during  the  year 
just  ended  as  this  chapter  is  written,  was  fifty-one. 

Figures  representing  assessed  valuation  cease  to  be  of  use  in 
determining  growth,  as  during  this  year  a  re-valuation  of  property 
was  made  by  the  county  of  Los  .'\ngeles  and  a  greatly  increased  val- 
uation as  a  basis  for  taxation,  went  into  eflfect  all  over  the  county. 
Under  this  general  advance,  the  valuation  of  the  city  for  assessment 
purposes  in  1921  and  1922  was  $21,981,560. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  173 

From  the  controller's  report  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1922. 
the  following  statistics  are  taken  :  Valuation  of  property  belonging 
to  the  City  of  Glendale, 

City  hall,  land  and  building $  20.204.66 

Furniture  and  equipinent 6.015.96 

Police    dei>artment 6„^37.83 

Fire  houses  and  land 10.122.22 

Equipinent    37,964.61 

Library,  land  and  building                    17.246.71 

Books  and  equipment 26.508.76 

Park  (one  only  at  that  date) 10.000.00 

Public   welfare   equipment 7.370.58 

Public  works  equipment 51,985.84 

Water  company  stock 24,852.50 

Water    system.' 824,768.73 

Electricity,  distributing  system .?32,792.88 


Total  value  of  city  property $1.. 384,771. 28 

Number  of  water  connections 6,816 

Miles   of  mains 100 

Revenue  for  vear $176,567.27 

Expense    '. 56.803.94 

Excess  of  revenue 119,764.23 

Electricity,    connections 8.256 

Revenue    $265,453.42 

Expense    121,814.54 

Excess  of  revenue 143,638.88 

Glendale  on  J.\nu.\rv  1,  1923 

By  this  date  the  number  of  water  connections  had  increased  to 
6,816;  electricity,  light  and  power  meters,  8,256. 

Estimated  population,  conservative,  30,000. 

Value  of  new  buildings  for  1922,  represented  bv  permits, 
$6,-305.971.     The  same  for  year  1920,  $3,127,264. 

Area  of  city,  11.7  square  miles. 

Number  of  banking  institutions,  eight,  with  combined  deposits 
of  $70,000,000. 

Number  of  churches,  sixteen. 

Schools — Intermediate  2.  Elementary  10,  High  1. 

Number  of  pupils  in  Intermediate  and  Elementary  schools.  3.961. 
Teachers  in  same.  121. 

Pupils  in  High  School,  1.600;  teachers.  76. 

The  Pacific  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Company  has  made  a 
recent  survey  of  conditions  in  Glendale  and  vicinity,  from  which  the 
following  items  are  gleaned: 

The  Federal  census  of  1920  gave  the  City  of  Glendale  with  the 
territory  comprising  Montrose,  La  Crescenta  and  La  Canada,  a  popu- 
lation of  15,928  persons.  The  recent  survey  made  by  this  company 
makes  the  number  not  less  than  30,000,  which  indicates  an  increase 
of  100  per  cent  in  three  years. 


174  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

A  similar  survey  was  made  in  1917  which  showed  4,200  families  in 
Glendale;  there  are  now  8,679.  Of  this  number,  8,029  are  living  in 
individual  homes,  583  in  flats  and  the  remainder  in  lodging  houses  and 
light  housekeeping  quarters.  There  are  879  firms  doing  business 
in  Glendale.  Of  these  there  are  212  in  offices,  316  in  retail  establish- 
ments, and  131  are  workshops.  There  are  seventy  grocery  stores  and 
markets,  sixteen  drug  stores,  seven  banks,  three  wholesale  houses, 
eleven  factories,  fifteen  religious  and  eighteen  educational  institu- 
tions. 

The  following  is  a  condensed  roster  and  directory  of  official 
Glendale  as  of  January  1,  1923:  City  Councilmen :  Spencer  Robin- 
son, Mayor;  C.  E.  Kimlin,  S.  A.  Davis,  A.  H.  Lapham,  Dwight  W. 
Stephenson.  The  terms  of  Councilmen  Lapham  and  Stephenson 
expire  April,  1923.  City  Manager,  W.  H.  Reeves;  City  Clerk,  A.  J. 
Van  Wie;  City  Treasurer,  J.  C.  Sherer;  Engineer,  Ben  S.  Depuy; 
City  Attorney,  Hartley  Shaw;  Asst.  City  Attorney,  Ray  Morrow; 
Controller,  H.  C.  Saulsberry;  Supt.  of  Plant  and  Production  (Public 
Service),  Peter  Diederich;  Commercial  Agent  (Public  Service),  J.  F. 
Mclntyre;  Supt.  of  Building,  H.  C.  Vandewater;  Judge  of  Police 
Court,  F.  H.  Lowe;  Chief  of  Police,  Col.  J.  D.  Frazer;  Chief  of  Fire 
Dept.,  A.  H.  Lankford;  Purchasing  Agent,  F.  H.  Dickson;  Health 
Officer,  Dr.  G.  Kaemmerling. 

Public  Service  Department 

The  growth  of  this  department  is  eloquently  told  by  the  follow- 
ing figures:  The  number  of  employes  in  1913  in  the  public  service 
office  were,  besides  the  manager,  one  office  clerk  and  one  meter 
reader  and  collector.  On  January  1,  1923,  there  were  on  the  office 
payroll  the  following:  One  commercial  agent,  two  meter  readers, 
three  collectors,  two  utility  men,  two  billing  clerks,  one  cashier,  one 
assistant  cashier,  one  chief  clerk,  one  utility  clerk.  The  outside  force 
consisted  of  the  following:  A  superintendent,  one  senior  draftsman, 
two  junior  draftsmen,  one  general  foreman,  one  construction  fore- 
man, eight  or  nine  sub-foremen,  two  linemen,  two  line  foremen,  two 
pump  plant  men,  three  trouble  men,  one  meter  tester,  seven  truck 
drivers,  four  linemen  helpers,  one  blacksmith,  two  store  keepers,  and 
an  ever  varying  number  of  laborers,  depending  on  the  amount  of 
construction  work  on  hand,  sometimes  as  many  as  seventy-five. 

Mr.  Peter  Diederich,  as  Superintendent  of  Plant  and  Production, 
is  the  head  of  this  department.  Mr.  Diederich  has  been  connected 
with  this  department  ever  since  its  organization.  Mr.  H.  B.  Lynch 
was  its  original  manager,  acting  in  that  capacity  until  1919,  when  the 
department  was  reorganized  and  put  under  the  direct  control  of  the 
City  Manager,  Mr.  Lynch  acting  for  about  two  years  longer  in  an 
engineering  capacity. 

Fire  Department 

This  department  of  the  city's  service,  shows  great  growth  from 
a  small  beginning.  As  late  as  1913  the  entire  "department"  consisted 
of  one  man,  a  horse  and  wagon  and  800  feet  of  hose.  The  one  man 
was  Town  Marshal,  Harry  Miller  (later  Justice  of  the  Peace),  who 


Fire   House   No.   1. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  177 

while  keeping  peace,  patrolling  the  city  night  and  day,  had  his  ears 
open  for  fire  alarms,  which  fortunately  were  infrequent. 

In  November,  1913,  the  city  purchased  a  Knox  Truck  chemical 
and  hose  combination,  at  a  cost  of  $6,250.  Marshal  Miller  resigned 
and  Mr.  A.  H.  Lankford  was  appointed  driver,  with  one  fireman.  In 
December  the  horse  and  wagon  were  sold.  In  January,  1914,  Mr. 
Geo.  Herald  was  appointed  chief  of  the  department,  which  then 
consisted  of  three  men.  (^n  Jul)-  1.  1915,  Mr.  Lankford  was  made 
chief  of  the  department  and  has  retained  the  position  until  this  date. 

In  January,  1918,  Tropico  was  made  a  part  of  the  City  of  Glendale 
and  by  this  consolidation  Glendale  acquired  two  fire  trucks,  the 
Tropico  station  being  retained  as  Fire  Station  No.  2.  In  May,  1918, 
a  Buick  roadster  was  procured  at  a  cost  of  $1,400  for  the  use  of  the 
chief.  In  May,  1919,  an  American-La  France  pumji  and  hose  combina- 
tion of  750  gallons  capacity  was  purchased  for  $10,250.  In  November, 
1921,  the  city  purchased  another  American-La  France  pump  and  hose 
combination  of  750  gallons'  capacity  for  $12,500.  In  September,  1922, 
still  another  at  the  same  price  was  purchased.  The  mechanical  force 
of  the  department  has  to  its  credit  the  building  over  of  the  first  truck 
owned  by  the  city  which  had  become  practically  useless,  converting 
it  into  a  first  class  ladder  wagon  at  a  cost  of  $393.  An  old  Ford  car 
bought  for  $50  was  converted  into  a  first  class  service  car  at  a  cost 
of  $156.  Fire  Station  No.  3  was  opened  in  the  Grand  View  district 
in  1922.  The  department  now  maintains  three  stations  with  a  force 
of  twenty  men.  The  total  equipment  now  is  as  follows:  Three  750- 
gallon  pumpers;  one  500-gallon  pumper;  one  ladder  wagon;  one  Buick 
roadster;  one  Ford  service  car  and  4,800  feet  of  two  and  one-half  inch 
hose. 

Engineering  Department 

Mr.  Ben  S.  Depuy  is  engineer  and  also  Street  Superintendent. 
The  demands  made  upon  this  department  by  the  rapid  growth  and 
extension  of  the  city,  particularly  by  the  great  amount  of  street  im- 
provement work  being  done,  has  made  it  difficult  to  keep  up  the  neces- 
sary detail  work,  but  it  has  been  done  nevertheless  and  the  depart- 
ment is  now  in  smooth  and  effective  working  condition. 

The  force  employed  in  this  department  is  as  follows :  Engineer, 
assistant  engineer,  three  chiefs  of  party,  seven  inspectors,  field  dep- 
uty. The  above  constitute  the  outside  force.  Inside  are  the  follow- 
ing: In  the  street  assessment  department,  one  chief,  a  clerk  and  a 
draftsman.  In  office  department,  five  draftsmen,  one  office  deputy, 
six  clerks,  two  stenographers. 

Street  Department 
L.  Dewaard  and  T.  W.  Curl,  foremen.     Eight  truck  drivers,  five 
sweepers,  three  grader  men,  one  tractor  man,  thirteen  laborers,  two 
chainmen. 

Health  Department 
Consists  of  one  health  officer.  Dr.  G.  Kaemmerling;  an  inspector, 
a  nurse  and  a  technician.    Owing  to  the  crowded  condition  of  the  city 
hall,  this  department  is  located  in  the  building  that  was  once  the 
city  hall  of  Tropico,  on  Los  Feliz  Road,  corner  Brand. 


178  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

The  Hi-'iLniNC  Department 

This  department  was  for  many  years  under  the  control  of  the 
Buildinjj  Inspector,  doing  the  work  with  one  clerk.  Mr.  J.  M.  Banker 
held  the  position  until   1920. 

At  present  Mr.  H.  C.  Vandewater  is  Superintendent  of  Building, 
having  under  him  four  inspectors,  one  clerk  and  a  draughtsman. 

Police  Department 

In  1918,  the  Glendale  Police  department  consisted  of  six  men,  its 
traveling  equipment  consisting  of  one  motorcycle  and  one  "Ford." 
The  signalling  system  consisted  of  one  telephone  call  box  and  some 
"volunteer"  telejihones  used  by  courtesy.  The  salaries  ranged  from 
$75  to  $1 10  per  month.  The  hours  of  duty  were  about  twelve  hours 
per  "watch,"  but  owing  to  the  fact  that  high-grade  men  were  em- 
ployed and  that  citizens  generally  co-operated,  the  taxpayers  received 
a  maximum  of  service  at  a  minimum  of  cost. 

In  1916,  an  efifort  was  made  to  install  a  finger-print  bureau,  but 
because  oi  limited  funds,  it  was  impossible  to  employ  an  expert  for 
that  service.  However,  the  fact  that  the  department  possessed  this 
crime-detecting  accessory,  undoubtedly  had  a  good  effect  in  deterring 
the  undesirables  from  coming  to  or  remaining  in  the  city.  During  the 
war  period  the  task  of  obtaining  good  men  was  a  difficult  one,  but 
the  force  was,  nevertheless,  kept  in  a  good  condition  of  efficiency. 

The  department  today  is  one  of  the  most  modernized  and  im- 
portant of  the  city  government;  although  still  somewhat  handicapped, 
it  is  rapidly  approaching  a  stage  of  100  per  cent  efficiency.  The  per- 
sonnel on  January  1,  1923,  was  composed  of  a  chief.  Col.  John  D. 
Frazer;  a  lieutenant,  two  sergeants,  three  desk  officers,  four  motor- 
cycle officers,  two  detectives,  a  bailiff,  a  police  matron  and  fourteen 
patrolmen.  The  transportation  equipment  consists  of  a  Dodge  Tour- 
ing car,  a  Ford  Touring  car.  the  latter  being  used  part  of  the  time  by 
the  pound-master  in  collecting  stray  canines.  The  motorcycle  squad 
consists  of  a  sergeant  and  three  men  working  in  two  teams.  This 
squad  has  done  verj-  efficient  service  in  running  down  traffic  law 
violators,  recently  averaging  more  than  450  a  month. 

The  signalling  system  has  been  greatly  improved  and  enlarged. 
Thirteen  call  box  stations  have  been  established  at  various  parts  of 
the  cit-s'  and  a  red  light  signalling  device  operated  from  headquarters 
calls  the  force  to  the  telephones  in  cases  of  emergency  or  of  general 
alarm.  A  "Flying  Squadron"  consisting  of  two  men  armed  with 
sawed-off  shot  guns  is  on  duty  at  headquarters  during  the  night  ready 
for  instant  service.  The  city  is  divided  into  five  precincts  patrolled 
during  the  twenty-four  hours  and  in  constant  touch  with  head- 
quarters. The  offices  have  been  greatly  enlarged  recently,  adding 
considerable  to  the  comfort  and  efficiency  of  the  force.  The  hours 
of  duty  have  been  reduced  to  eight  in  the  day  and  the  pay  increased 
until  it  is  now  from  $135  to  $200  a  month.  The  personnel  has  been 
kept  up  well  and  is  highly  efficient,  many  ex-service  men  and  marines 
being  included  in  the  force.  A  modern  system  of  records  has  been 
installed,  and  in  fact  all  along  the  line  improvements  are  noticeable. 


Pi-iulroy's  Dcparlimiu  Store. 
'I'hc   Monarch   Buildiiifi. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  181 

TiiF.  Growth  of  Gi.iindai.e  by  Anxkxations 

As  the  following  statement  shows,  Glendale  has  gathered  to  itself 
by  annexation  a  large  area  of  territory,  until  at  present  it  comprises 
all  of  the  territory  naturallj-  aftiliated  with  it,  except  a  small  section 
of  "Casa  Verdugo"  and  a  few  scattering  sparsely  settled  outlying 
districts  of  limited  area.  Most  of  the  annexed  territory  has  become  a 
part  of  the  city  because  its  inhabitants  saw  the  advantages  to  be 
derived,  principally  in  the  way  of  service  of  water  and  electricity  by 
the  municipality.  The  "Pumping  Plant"  strip  was  annexed  in  its 
shoestring  form,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  property  along  the 
San  Fernando  road  on  which  the  city  wells  are  located,  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  city  government.  A  similar  argument  was  effective 
in  reference  to  the  Verdugo  Canyon  territory  in  which  is  located 
the  city's  gravity  water  supply. 

Original  city,  1906 1.486  acres 

West  Glendale,  October  14,  1911 399  " 

Verdugo  Canyon,  March  ,30,  1912 3,736  " 

Remington  Street  District.  Oct.  16,  1915 45  " 

Pumping  Plant  District,  Nov.  10,  1915 21  "' 

Tropico,  Nov.  21,  1917 861  " 

Valley  View,  April  5,  1918 43  " 

Arden  Avenue,  April  5,  1918 14  " 

Kenilworth,  June  24,  1918 47  " 

Grand  View,  Jan.  20,  1919 605  '• 

Pacific  Avenue,  June  30,  1921      748  " 

Viola  Avenue,  July  13,  1921 18  " 

Sierra  Avenue,  August  11,  1921 1,186  " 

Laurel  Avenue,  Nov.  29,  1921 401  " 


Total 9,610  acres 

The  above  are  the  dates  of  the  elections,  the  official  date  of  filing 
with  the  Secretary  of  State  is  a  few  days  later  in  each  case. 

As  the  year  1923  opens,  several  building  projects  have  assumed 
tangible  shape  and  structures  will  soon  be  erected  that  mark  a  new 
era  in  Glendale's  building  history.  The  "First  four-story  building  in 
Glendale"  is  being  erected  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Brand  Boule- 
vard and  Wilson  Avenue,  by  J.  W.  Lawson.  In  the  same  block 
south  of  the  Lawson  building,  E.  U.  Emery  and  H.  S.  Webb  are  con- 
structing a  fine  two-story  building  with  glass  front,  to  be  occupied  by 
the  dry  goods  store  of  H.  S.  Webb  and  Company. 

The  northeast  corner  of  Brand  and  Broadway,  occupied  up  to 
the  present  time  since  1906  by  the  depot  building  of  the  Pacific  Elec- 
tric Railway  company,  has  been  sold  to  the  Security  Loan  and  Trust 
Company,  which  recently  took  over  the  First  National  Bank  of  Glen- 
dale, and  there  will  be  erected  there  in  the  near  future  a  bank  building 
which  it  is  said  is  to  consist  of  six  stories. 

But  the  largest  building  project  ever  started  in  the  city,  is  the 
structures  now  being  erected  by  the  Glendale  Sanitarium  Company, 


182  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

on  that  company's  recently  acquired  property  on  the  hillside  north 
of  Wilson  Avenue  and  east  of  Verdugo  Road.  The  initial  investment 
of  this  concern  will  amount  to  $480,000.  This  site  was  bought  in  1922 
of  Mrs.  Mary  G.  Dodge,  widow  of  J.  M.  Dodge,  a  pioneer  of  Glendale, 
who  selected  that  sightly  spot  for  his  home  about  1885.  He  died 
some  five  or  six  years  ago  and  his  widow  has  occupied  the  original 
house  on  the  hill  up  to  the  time  of  sale  of  the  property. 

On  the  fine  twenty-one  acre  site  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Ver- 
dugo Road  and  Broadway,  acquired  by  the  High  School  district  in 
December,  1921.  school  buildings  are  now  in  course  of  construction 
for  the  Glendale  Union  High  School,  to  cost  $600,000  calculated  to 
accommodate  2.500  pupils.  The  larger  portion  of  this  property  was 
sold  to  the  district  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Lukens  who  came  to  Glendale  in 
1885  with  no  other  capital  than  that  with  which  nature  had  endowed 
him.  The  ground  now  being  built  upon  by  the  High  School  district 
was  covered  by  a  fine  bearing  orchard  of  navel  orange  trees,  which 
Mr.  Lukens  produced  from  the  seed,  and  which  have  been  dug  up 
during  the  past  few  months  to  make  way  for  the  educational  plant. 

The  jjast  year  has  witnessed  the  establishment  of  a  number  of 
important  industrial  enterprises  along  the  San  Fernando  Road  paral- 
leling the  lines  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  company,  within  the 
recently  established  "Industrial  District."  As  for  the  building  of 
homes,  which  after  all  are  the  sure  foundation  of  the  city's  growth 
and  prosperity,  that  part  of  this  history  is  told  best  in  the  figures 
presented  herewith  showing  the  continued  and  almost  unparalleled 
record  of  achievement  in  this  direction.  The  development  of  the 
city  in  recent  years  has  naturally  been  from  the  center  outward ;  the 
section  best  served  by  the  electric  railroad,  being  the  first  to  feel  the 
impetus  of  the  movement  in  real  estate  values  set  in  motion  by  the 
home  builder  and  then  by  the  business  that  followed  in  his  trail. 

The  present  era  of  rapidly  increasing  values  in  business  property 
in  particular,  may  be  said  to  have  had  its  inception  about  1920,  when 
Dr.  Goodno,  a  Pasadena  capitalist,  bought  lots  on  Brand  Boule- 
vard running  back  to  Maryland  Avenue,  between  Broadway  and  Har- 
vard Street,  and  erected  the  Glendale  Theatre  building.  This  struc- 
ture was  soon  followed  by  the  erection  of  the  building  now  occupied 
by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  immediately  afterwards  bj'  other 
business  blocks  which  were  immediately  upon  completion  occupied 
by  various  prosperous  business  concerns,  along  Brand  Boulevard  and 
Broadway,  in  both  directions  from  the  center,  which  by  common  con- 
sent had  been  established  at  the  junction  of  Broadway  and  Brand. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  no  portion  of  the  city  in  which 
growth  and  prosperity  are  not  shown  by  buildings  in  the  course  of 
construction,  although  it  is  apparent  that  the  greatest  development 
in  the  way  of  home  building  is  along  the  beautiful  foothill  section  of 
the  northwest  towards  Burbank.  and  at  the  other  extreme  in  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  city  near  the  Eagle  Rock  boundarj — the  space 
between  that  city  and  Glendale  being  rapidly  closed  in. 


CHAPTER  XI 

NEWSPAPERS  OF  GLENDALE 

THE  ENCINAL  AND  THE  BOOM  OF  THE  LATE  'SO's.  INTERESTING 
REMINISCENCES  OF  THE  WHEELER  BROTHERS  AND  SISTER.  THE 
GLENDALE  NEWS  APPEARS  ON  THE  SCENE.  THE  VALLEY  INDE- 
PENDENT. ANOTHER  PRINTER  IN  TOWN;  THE  PRESS  BEGINS  PUB- 
LICATION.   TWO  FLOURISHING  DAILIES  AT  THIS  TIME. 

The  story  of  "The  fastest  growing  city  in  .\nierica,  "  which 
omitted  to  give  due  attention  to  its  newspapers,  would  be  suggestive 
of  Shakespeare's  great  tragedy  with  the  Melancholy  Dane  left  out. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  newspapers  of  Glendale  have  at  all  times  done 
their  full  duty  in  making  the  world  familiar  with  the  merits  of  the 
community  whose  life  they  mirrored  and  whose  record  they  have 
faithfully  kept.  It  is  hard  to  realize  that  as  long  ago  as  1887,  a  live 
newspaper  existed  in  Glendale,  fully  as  much  alive  to  existing  condi- 
tions and  as  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  future  greatness  of  the  com- 
munity, as  the  newspaper  of  today,  which  is  saying  much,  for  then 
it  was  seen  with  the  eye  of  faith,  while  today  the  wonders  of  growth 
and  development  are  so  evident  to  the  senses  that  they  cry  aloud ! 

Referring  to  the  minutes  of  the  Glendale  Improvement  Associa- 
tion, under  date  of  June  6,  1887,  we  find  the  following:  "The  news- 
paper question  was  then  discussed,  the  meeting  being  unanimous  in 
the  opinion  that  the  project  should  be  encouraged  and  a  large  sub- 
scription be  given  to  a  paper  to  be  published  on  the  spot.  Messrs. 
Wheeler  were  present  and  e.xpressed  their  willingness  to  take  hold  of 
the  project  if  guaranteed  sufficient  support.  The  secretary  was  in- 
structed to  draw  uj)  a  resolution  pledging  support  to  the  proposition, 
pecuniary  and  otherwise."  The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted 
and  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  Crow  and  Watson  appointed 
to  assist  Mr.  Wheeler  in  circulating  a  paper  pledging  a  certain  sum 
per  month  for  the  support  of  the  paper  for  a  period  of  six  months. 
The  sum  of  eighty  dollars  was  pledged  by  those  present.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  committee  were  Mr.  H.  J.  Crow  and  Mr.  W.  G.  Watson. 
The  committee  was  evidently  successful,  for  the  paper  was  started. 

Both  of  the  Wheeler  brothers  are  alive  and  prosperous  at  the 
present  time;  one  in  the  state  of  Washington  and  the  other,  .Arthur  J., 
being  connected  with  the  Los  .'\ngeles  Railway  Company.  ,'\nother 
member  of  the  firm  that  made  the  Glendale  Encinal  a  success,  was 
Mrs.  Cora  J.  Wolfe,  a  sister  of  the  two  brothers,  a  practical  type 
setter  whose  valuable  assistance  in  that  capacity  went  far  towards 
making  the  existence  of  the  paper  possible. 

The  historian  is  fortunate  in  being  able  to  give  the  story  of  this 
interesting  enterprise  in   the   language  of  the  editor  and  also  other 


184  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

features  of  it  in  the  language  of  the  useful  "silent  partner."  "I  was 
working  in  the  Western  Union  telegraph  office  in  Los  Angeles,"  said 
Mr.  Wheeler,  "and  happened  to  remark  one  day  to  J.  C.  Sherer  who 
was  also  employed  there,  that  I  had  a  brother  who  wanted  to  start  a 
small  newspaper  somewhere.  Mr.  Sherer,  who  was  living  in  Glendale 
at  the  time,  said  that  there  was  a  good  opening  in  Glendale  and  the 
result  was  that  he  took  me  out  there  to  see  about  it.  We  went  to  the 
meeting  of  the  Improvement  Association  and  in  a  short  time  the  mat- 
ter was  arranged  for  us  to  start  the  publication  of  a  small  weekly 
which  we  called  the  Encinal.  We  had  no  money  and  it  was  strictly 
a  shoe-string  proposition.  I  talked  the  printers'  supply  house,  man- 
aged by  Dick  Pridham  who  afterwards  became  supervisor,  into  let- 
ting us  have  a  small  press  and  a  set  of  type,  for  which  we  gave  a 
note  payable  in  six  months.  It  was  mighty  hard  'sledding'  but  the 
people  stood  by  us  loyally  and  we  made  it  go. 

"The  paper  was  first  located  in  the  rear  of  the  real  estate  office 
conducted  by  Clippinger  and  Williams  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Broadwaj'  and  Glendale  Avenue.  In  a  short  time  we  moved  from 
there  to  quarters  prepared  for  us  in  the  basement  of  the  new  hotel 
building. 

"The  people  of  Glendale  and  Tropico  gave  us  loyal  support  al- 
though we  had  of  course,  to  work  pretty  hard  for  all  that  we  got. 
As  a  printer's  devil  we  had  a  lively  number  in  the  person  of  'Billy' 
Phelon,  who  made  himself  generally  useful.  He  is  well  known  to 
Glendale  people  as  the  local  manager  of  the  Southern  California  Gas 
Compan}'.  Among  the  pioneers  of  that  day  I  recall  with  very  friendly 
feelings,  the  names  of  Richardson,  Devine,  Cook,  Hollenbeck,  By- 
ram,  Patterscjn,  Clippinger,  Lukens,  Dewing,  Hobbs,  and  always 
when  thinking  of  those  times  I  recall  H.  J.  Crow.  Glendale's  original 
booster  who  was  always  ready  to  give  support  to  any  project  that 
promised  to  develoj)  the  valley.  After  the  railroad  was  completed 
to  Glendale  and  before  it  was  extended  up  into  the  canyon  a  stage 
ran  from  the  terminus  to  the  park.  This  stage  was  run  by  George 
Washington  Gray  who  lived  up  Crescenta  way  and  I  was  surprised 
a  few  weeks  ago  when  I  encountered  Mr.  Gray  on  the  streets  in  Los 
Angeles,  wearing  the  same  long  whiskers  and  looking  much  as  he 
did  in  the  days  of  the  "iiooni.'  We  published  the  Encinal  for  about 
two  years  when,  as  the  boom  had  collapsed,  the  picking  became 
rather  scanty  and  we  sold  out  to  Wm.  Galer  of  Long  Beach.  I  be- 
lieve Mr.  Galer  kejit  it  alive  about  a  year  when  it  passed  into  history." 

We  are  also  able  to  supplement  this  interesting  account  by  the  fol- 
lowing sketch  furnished  by  Mrs.  Cora  J.  Wolfe,  which  furnishes  a 
characteristeric  atmosphere  for  the  times  pictured  so  graphically. 

"The  Glendale  T'lncinal,  a  weekly  newspaper,  was  established  in 
1887  by  Arthur  J.  and  Walter  L.  Wheeler.  A  few  cases  of  type  and  a 
Washington  hand  press  made  up  the  plant.  The  bugle  note,  or  sole 
object  in  fact,  was  the  booming  of  the  little  town.  How  the  editor 
wrote  of  its  future  greatness,  as  a  suburb  of  Los  .Angeles — that  was 
as  far  as  he  could  visualize,  and  this  was  a  far  cry,  a  pure  case  of 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  185 

"kidding  yourself,'  a  phrase  which  had  not  then  been  coined  but  aptly 
applies  now. 

"Looking  back  thirty-five  years  one  is  dazed  at  the  transition. 
Great  things  have  been  evolved  from  that  first  crude  attempt  at 
building  a  cit}-.  As  one  remembers,  the  Encinal  loyally  reported 
every  house  that  was  constructed,  fondly  referring  to  the  'music  of 
the  hammer  and  the  saw';  always  prophesying  that  there  was  more 
to  follow.  No  need  to  call  attention  to  the  many  hmnes  of  artistic 
design  that  constitute  the  city  of  today.  The  old  family  home  was 
located  on  what  was  then  known  as  'M'  Streets  (now  Maryland  Av- 
enue) between  Fourth  and  Fifth  Streets  (now  Broadway  and  Har- 
vard). There  was  a  path  made  through  the  weeds  and  wild  flowers 
leading  thereto.  There  were  only  two  other  homes  south  of  the 
hotel ;  all  beyond  and  surrounding  being  orchard  and  vineyard.  On 
the  lot  where  the  little  home  stood  and  the  tall  corn  waved — a  home 
garden  being  the  natural  thinu:  requiring  no  urge  from  the  govern- 
ment, now  stands  a  brick  building.  Within  the  past  year  the  last 
land  marks  have  been  removed,  a  few  large  pepper  trees  and  some 
cypress  that  had  once  formed  a  hedge  about  the  house  thirty  years 

"Going  back  to  the  Encinal;  the  manner  of  getting  news  in  those 
days  was  in  keeping  with  the  rest.  A  cart  and  a  broncho  were  a 
part  of  the  equipment  and  two  days  in  the  week  saw  one  of  the 
editors  start  of?  for  Tropico,  Eagle  Rock  or  even  over  the  rocky 
road  that  led  to  La  Canada  and  Crescenta,  picking  up  bits  of  'news' 
and  those  familiar  with  small  town  stuff  will  appreciate  the  fact  that 
it  was  'hard  picking.' 

"Recalling  those  times  one  had  a  mental  picture  of  'Billy'  the 
broncho,  interested,  if  not  in  the  work,  in  gleaning  for  himself  the 
luscious  pickings  in  the  vineyards  by  the  roadside.  When  he  took  a 
notion  nothing  would  induce  him  to  go  ahead  with  the  business  of  the 
day  until  he  had  sampled  the  grape  juice.  One  day  he  came  to  grief 
through  his  pilfering  propensities.  He  discovered  some  oats  in  a 
half  opened  box,  and  not  being  content  with  enough  and  to  leave 
some  for  the  next  comer,  he  got  his  nose  in  too  far  and  the  result  was 
a  terrified  broncho  tearing  down  Glendale  Avenue  adorned  with  an 
unusual  headpiece.  It  is  not  remembered  that  this  experience  re- 
formed him.  The  writer  cherishes  an  abiding  memory  of  the  friends 
of  that  distant  day  who  were  loyal  friends  of  the  little  paper;  some 
of  them  still  remain  and  are  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  patient 
planting  while  others  have  passed  on,  let  us  hope,  to  an  even  better 
country. 

"Among  them  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  C.  B.  Richardson.  The 
latter  contributed  verses  to  the  Encinal  from  time  to  time,  and  as 
there  were  no  poets  on  the  staff,  her  contributions  were  appreciated 
and  each  bit  of  her  verse  held  some  worth  while  message.  Mr.  Rich- 
ardson with  his  wide  experience  was  a  valued  adviser  of  the  strangers 
and  novices.  Out  of  the  fund  of  his  recollections  he  contributed  many 
incidents  of  earlier  days  in  the  valley  which  supplied  items  of  interest 
for  our  readers. 


186  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

"Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  Ayers  always  proved  their  interest  in  the 
Encinal,  by  contributions  for  the  delectation  of  the  newspaper  force, 
rather  than  for  the  readers  of  the  paper,  as  it  was  the  good  old  custom 
still  at  that  time,  to  send  to  the  newspaper  office  samples  of  the  fruits 
of  the  garden  and  orchard.  While  the  ball  of  reminiscence  rolls  we 
speak  of  another  good  friend,  Mrs.  Ella  B.  Newcomb,  whose  home 
was  in  Verdugo  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  valley,  from  which  a  beauti- 
ful view  of  the  valley  unfolded.  Mrs.  Newcomb  also  expressed  her- 
self in  verse,  short  poems  inspired  b\'  the  beautiful  natural  surround- 
ings of  her  home  in  the  Verdugo  hills.  -A^nother  loyal  supporter  of 
the  paper  was  Mr.  H.  J.  Crow  whose  home  was  located  in  the  center 
of  a  fine  orchard,  where  the  new  Catholic  church  now  stands.  The 
long  line  of  eucalyptus  trees  on  Lomita  Avenue  were  planted  by  Mr. 
Crow  and  stands  as  a  fitting  monument  to  the  memory  of  that  sturdy, 
energetic  pioneer.  Some  one  has  said.  'There  is  in  friendship,  for  a 
tree,  somethintj  resembling  ones  relation  to  a  friend.  Rich  and  happy 
is  the  man  who  has  in  his  heart  the  gift  of  feeling  to  discern  the  link 
between  nature  and  humanity,  so  that  the  magic  door  unlocks  for  him 
and  discloses  the  inner  meaning  of  them  both.'  " 

After  the  passing  of  the  Encinal,  Glendale  went  for  many  years 
without  a  newspaper.  But  in  1895  there  was  an  enterprising  grocer 
located  at  the  store  on  the  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue  and  Third 
Street,  named  T.  W.  Jones.  Mr.  Jones  conceived  the  idea  that  trade 
might  be  helped  by  a  new  scheme  for  advertising,  so  he  began  to  pub- 
lish an  occasional  six  by  four  sheet  called  The  Suburban  Visitor.  The 
first  issue  of  that  publication  lies  before  us,  dated  November  19,  1895. 
The  editor  modestly  declares  that  he  "does  not  hope  to  compete  with 
the  big  dailies,"  and  then  proceeds  to  show  that  he  has  a  good  idea  of 
news  values,  by  publishing  a  good  many  items  of  local  interest.  The 
principal  one  is  in  reference  to  the  development  work  being  done  by 
the  Verdugo  Canyon  Water  Company  in  the  canyon.  It  is  stated  that 
250  feet  of  a  bed  rock  dam  has  been  completed  at  an  expenditure  of 
$6,000,  extending  to  a  depth  of  from  12  to  28  feet.  .Another  item  tells 
about  the  strawberry  crop  of  L.  C.  Wardell.  Rev.  Mills  was  the  min- 
ister of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Mrs.  Duncan  (Mrs.  P.  W.  Parker) 
was  giving  lessons  on  the  piano.  J.  F.  Jones,  Mark  Gorsline,  E.  J. 
Valentine  and  Chas.  Sternberg  were  engaged  in  raising  a  crop  of 
green  peas  on  the  North  Glendale  foothills,  hoping  to  get  a  good  crop 
and  high  prices  provided  the  frost  kept  off.  The  reason  for  the  exis- 
tence of  the  sheet  is  given  in  full  column  list  of  prices  at  the  store 
of  Mr.  Jones.  A  comparison  with  present  day  prices  may  be  of  in- 
terest. It  should  be  remembered  that  the  year  1895  was  in  a  period 
of  great  business  depression.  However,  we  learn  that  5  gallons  of 
coal  oil  could  be  purchased  for  90  cents,  gasoline  costing  five  cents 
more.  A  fifty  pound  sack  of  flour  could  be  bought  for  80  cents. 
Four  pounds  of  soda  crackers,  25  cents.  Six  cakes  of  Borax  soap,  25 
cents;  a  75  pound  sack  of  rolled  barley,  55  cents;  one  pound  of  Mocha 
and  Java  coflfee,  40  cents;  good  English  Breakfast  Tea,  60  cents.  The 
old  reliable  Arbuckle's  coffee  was  two  pounds  for  45  cents.  Wheat 
$1.15  a  hundred.    Mr.  Jones  soon  left  for  more  enticing  fields,  not  fore- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  187 

seeing  the  coming  greatness  of  the  city  that  was  to  come  into  exis- 
tence eleven  years  later. 

One  day  in  10Q5  a  printer  came  to  Glendale  with  a  pocket  full  of 
type,  rented  a  little  frame  building  on  Glendale  Avenue  between 
Third  and  Fourth  (Wilson  and  Broadway)  Streets  and  presently  is- 
sued a  very  small  sheet,  called  a  newspaper  by  courtesy,  and  passed 
copies  out  to  anybody  passing  by.  He  was  so  unobtrusive  in  his 
methods  that  but  few  people  knew  he  was  in  the  neighborhood.  So 
little  of  an  impression  did  he  make  on  the  community  that  among  the 
old  settlers  of  that  time  who  still  remain  no  one  can  be  found  who 
remembers  his  name.  He  may  have  remained  a  month,  possibly  not 
so  long,  but  he  played  his  part,  for  there  came  out  to  the  little  town 
one  day  a  real  live  newspaper  man  who  bought  out  the  plant,  if  such 
it  could  be  termed,  and  started  the  Glendale  News. 

The  newcomer  was  Mr.  E.  M.  McClure,  a  man  who  had  had  ex- 
perience in  starting  newspapers  in  small  towns  and,  in  the  words  of 
the  fraternity,  "knew  the  game."  Mr.  McClure  sensed  the  possibil- 
ities of  the  town  and  although  short  on  capital,  financially  speaking, 
was  supplied  with  natural  endinvments  of  energy  and  aggressive 
push.  He  impressed  upon  a  few  of  the  "leading  citizens"  the  idea  that 
a  newspaper  was  an  absolute  necessity  and  that  he  was  offering  them 
an  opportunity  to  get  one  which  might  not  be  again  repeated.  He 
obtained  about  $300  of  the  local  bank,  on  the  endorsements  of  the 
"prominent  citizens."  with  which  he  bought  a  small  assortment  of 
type,  a  hand  press  and  a  few  other  requirements,  and  proceeded  to 
print  and  issue  a  small  but  aggressive  sheet,  well  spiced  with  person- 
alities and  other  things.  He  took  up  the  question  of  municipal  in- 
corporation, which  had  been  started  by  the  Improvement  Association, 
and  fought  it  through  to  a  finish  in  the  February  following. 

Mr.  McClure  conducted  the  News  with  fair  success  until  Janu- 
ary 1,  1907,  when  he  sold  out  to  Riggs  and  Sherer.  When  the  paper 
was  first  established  as  a  regular  publication,  it  was  located  on 
Broadway,  second  door  from  the  northwest  corner  of  Glendale  Av- 
enue, in  the  old  schoolhouse  building  that  had  been  bought  by  John 
Mulder,  moved  from  its  location  on  Broadway,  remodeled  and  turned 
into  two  business  structures. 

On  Broadway  there  were  two  rooms,  the  corner  one  used  as  a 
l)ool  room  and  soft  drink  establishment  and  the  other  being  leased  to 
the  newspaper,  Mulder  and  his  wife  living  in  the  rear.  When  the 
newly  elected  city  trustees  began  to  look  around  for  quarters  in 
which  to  transact  the  city  business,  it  was  decided  to  secure  this  room 
on  Broadway  if  possible.  A  deal  was  made  with  Mr.  McClure  by 
which  he  gave  up  his  lease  and  allowed  the  city  authorities  to  move 
in,  so  that  after  meeting  at  the  residence  of  the  clerk  for  the  two  first 
regular  meetings,  the  third  was  held  in  the  new  quarters.  The  News 
ofifice  was  then  moved  into  Mulder's  other  building,  adjoining  the 
corner  one  on  the  north.  There  it  remained  until  1913  when  it  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  present  owner  who  moved  the  plant  to  the  Wil- 
son block  on  Broadway  near  the  corner  of  Louise  Street.  There  it 
remained,  having  meantime  been  converted  into  a  daily  paper,  until 


188  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

again  moved  into  its  present  quarters  on  Brand  Boulevard.  Sherer 
and  Riggs  conducted  the  News  until  July,  1908,  when  Mr.  Riggs  sold 
out  his  interest  to  his  partner. 

In  the  meantime,  within  a  few  weeks  after  having  sold  the  paper, 
Mr.  McCIure  started  an  opposition  paper  (The  Valley  Independent) 
on  Brand  Boulevard.  He  published  this  until  July,  1908,  when  it 
was  bought  by  the  proprietor  of  the  News.  Mr.  Sherer  published  the 
paper  until  March,  1913.  when  he  sold  out  to  Mr.  A.  T.  Cowan,  a 
newspaper  man  from  Illinois.  Mr.  Cowan  conducted  the  paper  as 
a  weekly  a  few  months  only  when  he  converted  it  into  a  daily  on 
September  1,  1913,  the  paper  from  that  time  onward  constantly 
growing  in  circulation  and  influence;  each  issue  at  present  consists 
of  from  10  to  16  pages.  The  plant  which  Mr.  Cowan  took  over  in 
1913  consisted  of  an  old  cylinder  press,  two  job  presses,  two  or  three 
fonts  of  type  and  the  other  usual  accessories  of  a  small  printing  estab- 
lishment. At  this  time  the  News  is  published  in  spacious  modern 
quarters  with  a  mechanical  outfit  which  is  excelled  only  by  those  to 
be  found  in  larger  cities.  The  force  of  employes  in  1913  numbered 
five;  today  the  establishment  gives  emploj'ment  to  about  seventy-five 
people  with  a  weekly  wage  roll  of  two  thousand  dollars. 

The  Glendale  Press 
In  May,  1910.  Mr.  Frank  S.  Chase,  a  practical  printer,  came  to 
Glendale  from  San  Diego  and  started  a  four  page  weekly  in  a  small 
office  on  Brand  Boulevard.  For  several  months  the  actual  printing 
of  the  paper  was  done  in  Los  Angeles,  the  editor  and  proprietor  carry- 
ing on  a  job  printing  business  which  was  the  principal  source  of  in- 
come, although  the  popularity  of  the  adventurous  spirit  in  the  journal- 
istic field,  brought  to  the  Press  a  volume  of  advertising  that  the  circu- 
lation of  the  paper  hardly  merited.  The  paper  kept  alive  through  the 
"lean"  years  and  began  to  prosper  when  the  "fat"  ones  came;  a  good 
"plant"  was  gradually  accumulated  and  after  about  ten  years  of  ef- 
fort Mr.  Chase  found  himself  the  owner  of  a  valuable  piece  of  journal- 
istic property.  On  December  1,  1919,  he  sold  out  to  Mr.  J.  H.  Folz. 
another  practical  printer.  Mr.  Folz  conducted  the  paper  for  six 
months  alone  and  then  sold  a  part  interest  to  Mr.  J.  W.  Usilton.  well 
known  in  Glendale  through  his  connection  with  the  Los  .Angeles  Ex- 
])ress  and  his  activity  in  civic  affairs.  The  paper  continued  as  a 
v/eekly,  having  grown  up  to  a  sixteen  page  issue,  for  another  year. 
Messrs.  Folz  and  Usilton  then  in  company  with  a  number  of  Glendale 
citizens  formed  an  incorporated  publishing  company  and  started  the 
Press  on  its  career  as  a  daily.  Shortly  after  this  was  accomplished, 
Mr.  Folz  sold  his  stock  in  the  concern  to  Capt.  Thomas  D.  Watson. 
It  was  on  March  1,  1921,  that  the  first  issue  of  the  Press  as  a  daily 
appeared  with  Mr.  John  W.  Usilton  as  editor  and  Mr.  \V.  L.  Taylor  as 
business  manager,  assisted  by  a  full  corps  of  reporters,  advertising 
solicitors,  etc.  The  paper  had  the  usual  difficult  experiences  of  a  new 
venture  of  the  kind,  but  the  outcome  was  creditable  to  all  concerned 
and  it  was  in  a  short  time  well  established  in  the  favor  of  the  pul^Iic. 
When  Captain  Watson  bought  into  the  company  he  took  over  the 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  189 

general  management  and  soon  succeeded  in  putting  it  upon  a  substan- 
tial and  profitable  basis.  In  May.  1921,  a  Cox  Double  Web  press  was 
installed  with  a  capacity  of  3.600  papers  an  hour,  thus  solving  the 
problem  which  had  up  to  that  time  been  a  difl'icult  one.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1921,  Wr.  F.  \V.  Kellogg,  who  had  been  very  successful  as  man- 
ager of  the  Los  Angeles  Express  and  several  allied  papers,  obtained 
control  of  the  Glendale  Press  and  in  a  short  time  brought  it  to  a  posi- 
tion of  well  assured  success  and  efficiency.  No  change  was  made  in 
the  local  management.  The  combination  of  the  Press  with  the  prin- 
cipal Los  .Angeles  evening  paper  has  been  one  of  the  principal  factors 
in  giving  this  paper  a  large  circulation.  The  policy  of  the  Press  has 
been  loyalt}'  to  local  interests  and  support  of  measures  tending  tf>  in- 
crease Glendale  interests  and  prestige. 

San  Fernando  Valley  Sun 

In  the  latter  part  of  1916,  Mr.  Herbert  Crooks,  a  well  known 
newspaper  man  of  San  Fernando  and  elsewhere,  conceived  the  idea 
that  there  was  room  for  another  newspaper  in  Glendale  and  started  a 
weekly  paper  named  as  above.  It  was  published  for  a  few  weeks  in 
a  small  room  on  Broadway,  east  of  Glendale  Avenue.  War  condi- 
tions and  other  adverse  circumstances  conspired  against  the  venture 
and  after  a  precarious  existence  for  three  or  four  months,  it  passed 
away. 

From  time  to  time  there  have  been  a  number  of  publications 
started  in  Glendale  as  advertising  propositions,  the  readiness  of  the 
average  Glendale  merchant  to  try  at  least  once  anything  promising 
publicity,  giving  encouragement  to  these  ventures.  Generally  their 
existence  has  been  ephemeral,  although  at  the  present  time  one  or 
two  of  them  appear  to  be  fairly  successful.  Indeed  it  is  a  matter  of 
wonderment  that  it  has  been  possible  for  two  local  dailies  to  establish 
themselves  so  securely  as  they  have  done,  considering  the  competition 
of  the  big  Los  Angeles  papers  which  also  have  a  large  circulation  in 
the  community  and  are  distributed  in  Glendale  as  promptlj'  as  in  the 
outskirts  of  Los  Angeles.  It  is  proof  of  the  fact  that  Glendale  is 
possessed  of  a  spirit  of  loyalty  to  home  interests,  which  make  it  pos- 
sible to  overcome  the  natural  trend  of  that  attraction  which  forces 
the  suburbs  of  a  large  city  generally  toward  the  greater  common 
center.  The  newspapers  of  Glendale  from  the  first  to  the  latest,  have 
been  one  of  the  chief  factors,  building,  even  better  than  they  knew, 
the  foundations  of  a  city  of  ever  increasing  greatness. 

Tropico  Newspapers 
H.  W.  Melrose,  a  practical  printer,  was  living  in  Tropico  when 
that  place  began  to  show  signs  of  awakening  and  it  was  natural 
enough  that  it  should  occur  to  him  that  a  newspaper  was  a  "long  felt 
want."  The  result  was  that  in  February,  1911,  the  Tropico  Sentinel 
was  launched  under  his  leadership.  It  came  into  being  at  a  time  when 
there  was  a  general  agitation  over  the  questions  of  annexation,  either 
to  Los  Angeles  or  Glendale,  and  of  incorporation  as  a  separate  mu- 
nicipal entity.    The  issue  of  April  1,  1911,  announced  that  Mr.  N.  C. 


190  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Biirch  had  been  secured  as  editor.  Mr.  Biirch  was  an  old  newspaper 
man,  also  an  attorney,  and  under  his  editorial  management  the  paper 
became  well  established,  the  editorial  pages  being  well  filled  with 
leaders  which  showed  the  work  of  an  experienced  writer.  Mr.  Burch 
was  connected  with  the  Verdugo  Canyon  Water  Company,  and  being 
familiar  with  the  water  question  which  was  one  of  the  live  issues  of 
the  time,  the  pages  of  the  paper  were  enlivened  with  many  able  arti- 
cles from  his  pen  on  that  subject  t)n  which  he  particularly  specialized. 

In  April  of  the  year  of  its  establishment,  the  paper  changed  its 
heading  to  Inter-Urban  Sentinel,  being  inspired  by  an  ambition  to 
cater  to  a  somewhat  larger  field.  On  June  15,  1911,  Mr.  Melrose 
transferred  his  interest  in  the  paper  to  the  Sentinel  Publishing  Com- 
pany, under  the  management  and  editorial  control  of  Mr.  Hurch.  He 
conducted  the  paper  until  February,  1913,  when  he  sold  to  Harry  L. 
Edwards.  In  July  of  that  year  Mrs.  Ella  ^\'.  Richardson  became 
financially  interested  in  the  paper  and  it  was  issued  thereafter  by  Ed- 
wards and  Richardson.  In  January.  1914,  Mrs.  Richardson  became 
the  sole  owner  and  Mr.  Arthur  J.  Van  Wie  was  placed  in  the  editorial 
chair,  also  acting  as  manager. 

On  July  8.  1914.  the  paper  became  the  Tropico  Sentinel.  Mr.  \'an 
Wie  becoming  editor  and  proprietor.  Mr.  Van  Wie  conducted  the 
paper  until  June.  1916.  when  it  ])assed  into  the  possession  of  E.  C. 
Gibbs,  Miss  Gertrude  Gibbs  becoming  editor.  In  the  issue  of  De- 
cember, 1917.  Miss  Gibbs  announced  that  the  Sentinel  had  been  con- 
solidated with  the  weekly  edition  of  the  Glendale  News  and  would 
thereafter  be  known  as  the  Glendale-Sentinel-Progress,  the  con- 
solidation of  the  two  cities  having  l)een  effected. 

In  1917,  Mr.  Oliver,  a  practical  printer,  who  had  associated  with 
him  an  old  newspaper  man,  Mr.  F.  C.  Wilkinson,  started  the  Tropico 
Herald  which  was  published  until  November,  1919,  bj-  the  Oliver 
Company,  when  on  account  of  the  fact  that  the  printing  plant  had 
moved  to  Glendale,  the  name  of  the  publication  was  changed  to  the 
Glendale  Herald,  its  publication  continuing  for  a  short  time  only. 


CHAPTER  XII 

BANKING  INSTITUTIONS  OF  GLENDALE 

THE  PIONEER  DANK;  THE  BANK  OF  GLENDALE.  THE  FIRST 
NATIONAL  BANK  SOON  FOLLOWS.  THE  FIRST  AND  ONLY  STRICTLY 
SAVINGS  BANK.  A  BANK  OF  MANY  NAMES,  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL 
BANK  IN  GLENDALE.  THE  GLENDALE  STATE  BANK  APPEARS  ON 
THE  SCENE.    THE  COMMUNITY  SAVINGS  AND  COMMERCIAL  BANK. 

In  1905  it  was  a  much  more  serious  thing  to  start  a  Ijank  than  it 
is  now  when  there  is  one  found  in  ever}'  small  town.  In  that  year 
B.  F.  Patterson,  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt,  E.  T.  Byram  and  a  few  others 
started  the  movement  for  securing  a  bank  for  Glendale,  the  need  for 
one  becoming  more  and  more  apparent  daily.  They  interested  Judge 
E.  M.  Ross  and  Captain  C.  E.  Thorn  in  the  project.  They  secured  the 
assistance  of  Mr.  \Vm.  Mead  of  the  Central  Bank,  Los  Angeles,  and 
the  Bank  of  Glendale  was  organized  with  a  paid  up  capital  stock  of 
$25,000.  Mr.  James  C.  Kayes,  also  connected  with  the  Central  Bank, 
was  made  president  of  the  Board  of  Directors;  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt,  vice- 
president  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Sherer,  cashier.  The  bank  opened  its  doors 
on  June  26,  1905,  in  the  frame  one-story  building  on  Glendale  Avenue, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  street,  second  door  from  the  corner,  north  of 
Broadwa)'.  The  equipment  was  limited  to  such  books  and  jjarapher- 
nalia  as  were  absolutely  necessarj',  including  a  manganese  steel  safe. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Elias  Ayers  was  erecting  a  two-storj-  build- 
ing on  the  northwest  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue  and  Wilson,  the 
lower  corner  room  being  calculated  for  the  use  of  the  bank ;  and  so 
about  August  first  the  bank  was  moved  to  that  location  on  a  five  year 
lease.  At  that  time  the  principal  store  of  the  town  was  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  Wilson  and  Glendale  Avenue,  as  was  also  the  post- 
office,  Broadway  not  having  developed  as  a  business  thoroughfare, 
while  Brand  Boulevard  was  just  entering  o  na  building  career  which 
was  later  to  make  it  the  center  of  the  city. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1906  Mr.  F.  H.  Vesper,  an  Iowa  banker, 
looking  around  for  a  banking  business  in  which  to  establish  himself, 
secured  a  block  of  stock  in  the  institution  which  was  held  by  Mr. 
Mead  and  puchasing  it  entered  into  control  of  the  Bank  of  Glendale. 
Mr.  Vesper's  judgment  has  been  amply  substantiated  since  that  time 
and  the  bank  under  his  direction  prospered  even  in  excess  of  his  ex- 
pectations. Up  to  the  time  that  Mr.  Vesper  took  charge,  the  bank 
had  obtained  a  good  start  with  a  large  list  of  depositors,  generally  in 
small  amounts  and  had  a  very  desirable  line  of  local  investments  in 
the  form  of  mortgages. 

On  January  I,  1907,  Mr.  Sherer  retired  and  was  succeeded  as 
cashier  by  Mr.  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  who  retained  that  position  until  suc- 
ceeded by  Mr.  Herman  Nelson,  February  15,  I9I2. 


192  GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY 

In  1909,  the  business  center  having  shifted  to  Broadway  so  un- 
mistakably that  the  fact  could  not  be  evaded,  this  bank,  although  its 
lease  did  not  expire  for  another  year  in  the  quarters  then  occupied, 
moved  into  its  own  building  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Glendale 
Avenue  and  Broadway.  In  June,  1916,  the  bank  opened  a  branch  on 
Brand  Boulevard,  the  immediate  success  of  which  proved  the  wisdom 
of  the  move. 

On  August  20,  1920.  a  merger  was  accomplished  by  which  the 
Bank  of  Glendale  ceased  to  exist  and  became  a  branch  of  the  Los  An- 
geles Trust  and  Savings  Bank.  Mr.  \'^esper,  who  had  been  president 
of  the  institution  ever  since  1907,  retired  from  the  banking  business, 
remaining  with  the  institution,  however,  until  re-organization  had 
been  completely  accomplished.  Mr.  Nelson  remained  as  local  man- 
ager and  later  became  a  vice  president  of  the  Pacific  Southwest  Trust 
and  Savings  Bank  as  this  bank  was  re-christened  in  the  latter  part  of 
1922.  Mr.  D.  H.  Smith  is  manager  of  the  Brand  Boulevard  branch 
and  a  vice-president  of  the  bank. 

As  an  indication  of  the  growth  of  this  institution  the  following 
comparison  of  the  amount  of  deposits,  is  given:  August.  1920,  $1,799,- 
855.54;  January  1,  1923,  $3,412,248.84. 

The  First  National  Bank  of  Glendale  opened  its  doors  in  No- 
vember, 1905,  Mr.  L.  C.  Brand  being  the  principal  owner  and  pro- 
moter. .Associated  with  him  as  directors  were  Herman  W.  Hellman. 
and  W.  S.  Halliday  of  the  Merchants  National  Bank.  Los  Angeles, 
and  Dan  Campbell  and  D.  Griswold  of  Glendale.  The  cashier  was 
Mr.  E.  V.  Williams.  Among  the  other  stockholders  we  find  the  names 
of  D.  McNiven,  A.  Engelhardt,  A.  W.  Collins,  George  U.  Moyse,  P.  S. 
McNutt,  Fannie  S.  McNutt,  George  T.  Dutton  and  J.  A.  Logan.  The 
bank  was  located  in  the  two-story  brick  building,  known  then  as  the 
"Masonic  Hall"  just  north  of  the  P.  E.  depot  where,  in  enlarged 
quarters,  the  Branch  Bank  of  the  Pacific-Southwest  Trust  and  Sav- 
ings Bank  is  now  located. 

In  1909  W.  W.  Lee,  M.  P.  Harrison  and  Ed  M.  Lee  purchased  a 
controlling  interest  in  the  bank.  Mr.  Halliday  and  Mr.  Griswold  re- 
maining on  the  Board  of  Directors,  being  succeeded  later  by  E.  U. 
Emery  and  George  T.  Paine. 

In  1918  the  first  three  story  brick  building  in  Glendale  was 
erected  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Broadway  and  Brand  and  the  bank 
was  moved  into  these  quarters.  In  August.  1919.  the  controlling  in- 
terest was  sold  to  C.  C.  Cooper,  R.  F.  Kitterman  and  W.  C.  Ander- 
son. Mr.  Anderson  soon  sold  out  his  interest  to  Messrs.  Cooper  and 
Kitterman.  About  the  first  of  January,  1922,  Mr.  Kitterman  pur- 
chased Mr.  Cooper's  interest  and  eflfected  a  merger  with  the  Security 
Trust  and  Savings  Bank  of  Los  Angeles.  The  growth  of  this  institu- 
tion is  indicative  of  the  growth  of  the  community  as  the  following 
figures  show.  The  combined  assets  on  December  31,  1909,  were 
$231,473.37;  on  December  31,  1913,  $453,495.04;  on  December  31,  1919, 
$1,274,133.84  and  at  the  time  of  the  merger  with  the  Security  Trust 
and  Savings  Bank,  $2,266,020.60. 


I'lfS''^'' 


Glcndalf  Branch.  Security  Trust  i\:  Savings   Bank.    Prese".t   (Juartcrs   (above),  and 
Class  A  Building  to  be  Constructed  at   Broadway  and  Brand  Boulevard  in  192.V 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  195 

Glendale  Savings  Bank 

This  institution  is  the  only  strictly  Savings  Bank  in  Glendale. 
It  received  its  charter  under  date  of  May  5,  1913,  being  organized 
by  W.  W.  Lee,  M.  P.  Harrison,  W.  S.  Perrin,  Ed  M.  Lee,  and  E.  U. 
Emery,  who  were  appointed  directors  for  the  first  year.  The  ofificers 
for  that  year  were :  Ed  M.  Lee,  president ;  \V.  W.  Lee,  vice  presi- 
dent; E.  U.  Emer)',  vice  president;  M.  P.  Harrison,  secretary;  C.  D. 
Lusby,  assistant  secretary  and  cashier. 

The  bank  opened  for  business  Tune  2,  1913.  The  deposits  at  the 
end  of  that  year  were  $36,578;  at  the  end  of  1914.  $76,242;  on  June 
1,  1915,  the  end  of  the  second  year,  deposits  were  $133,595;  June  30. 
1922,  deposits  $600,000;  January  1,  1923,  $665,953. 

In  May,  1920,  E.  U.  Emery  and  C.  D.  Lusby  sold  their  stock  to 
W.  S.  Perrin  and  David  Francy.  At  the  same  time  W.  W.  Lee  and 
Ed  M.  Lee  sold  most  of  their  holdings  to  C.  E.  Wetmore  and  H.  E. 
Francy.  Mr.  Ed  M.  Lee,  Mr.  E.  U.  Emery  and  Mr.  C.  D.  Lusby  re- 
signed as  ofificers  of  the  bank  and  Mr.  W.  S.  Perrin  was  elected  presi- 
dent, C.  E.  Wetmore  and  Fred  L.  Thompson  vice  presidents,  and 
H.  E.  Francy,  cashier.  These  ofificers  continue  in  charge  of  the  in- 
stitution and  their  work  shows  the  remarkable  result  indicated  by  the 
figures  given  above. 

First  Xational  Bank  in  Glendale 

This  institution  with  a  determination  to  keep  up  with  the  times, 
has  twice  changed  its  name.  It  was  organized  as  the  Bank  of  Trop- 
ico  in  March,  1910,  with  the  following  named  officials:  Daniel  Camp- 
bell, president;  E.  W.  Richardson,  vice  president;  John  A.  Logan, 
cashier.  The  Board  of  Directors  was  constituted  as  follows:  Daniel 
Campbell,  E.  W.  Richardson,  O.  S.  Richardson,  B.  W.  Richardson, 
John  A.  Logan,  Norton  C.  Wells,  W.  H.  Bullis.  The  location  was  in 
the  bank's  own  building  on  the  corner  of  San  Fernando  Road  and 
Central  Avenue. 

The  business  center  of  Tropico  having  shifted  to  Brand  Boule- 
vard, the  bank  in  1917  moved  into  a  new  building  located  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Brand  Boulevard  and  Cypress  Street,  where  it  remains.  At 
that  time  the  bank  was  capitalized  for  only  $25,000  with  deposits  of 
$40,000.  At  present  its  capitalization  with  surplus  amounts  to  $65,000 
and  deposits  are  $900,326.91.  In  1921  the  name  of  the  institution  was 
changed  to  Glendale  National  Bank  and  on  January  1,  1923,  it  became 
The  First  National  Bank  in  Glendale. 

The  Board  of  Directors  is  constituted  as  follows :  O.  S.  Rich- 
ardson, W.  H.  Bullis,  B.  F.  Lyttle,  Dan  Campbell,  W.  W.  Lee,  John 
A.  Logan.  Present  ofificers  are:  W.  W.  Lee,  president;  O.  S.  Rich- 
ardson, vice  president;  John  A.  Logan,  cashier;  Dan  Campbell,  chair- 
man of  Board  of  Directors. 

Glendale  State  Bank 
This  bank  was  organized   May  14,   1921  ;  opening  for  business 
September  26  of  the  same  year,  with  a  paid-up  capital  of  $100,000. 
Mr.  Allen   R.   Eastman,  the  organizer,  had  associated  with  him   the 


196  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

following  Glendale  people  who  served  as  the  first  directors :  W.  E. 
Evans,  Peter  L.  Ferrv.  Howard  W.  Walker,  C.  D.  Lusbv.  C.  E.  Kim- 
lin,  C.  H.  Toll.  Oma  Fish.  John  Hyde  Braly.  Mr.  C.'H.  Toll  was 
elected  president.  Allen  R.  Eastman,  active  vice  president  and  inan- 
ager;  Howard  \V.  \\'alker.  vice  president;  C.  D.  Lusby,  cashier. 

On  the  opening  daj-.  the  deposits  were  $75,000;  by  December 
thirty-first  this  had  increased  to  $338,990.85.  Deposits  grew  with  re- 
markable celeritv  as  is  shown  bv  the  following  figures:  March  1. 
1922,  $516,698.88;  June  30,  1922,  $603,516.62;  September  30.  1922. 
$683,196.81;  December  30.  1922,  $836,871.82. 

On  January  10.  1923.  the  following  were  elected  directors:  Allen 
R.  Eastman,  president;  Howard  \V.  Walker,  vice  president;  C.  D. 
Lusby,  D.  J.  Hanna,  W.  E.  Evans,  Oma  A.  Fish,  C.  E.  Kimlin,  Peter 
L.  Ferry,  J.  J.  Nesom. 

The  1923  oflficers  are  the  following:  Allen  R.  Eastman,  presi- 
dent; Howard  W.  Walker,  vice  president;  George  E.  Farmer,  cashier; 
Allen  R.  Eastman,  treasurer;  George  E.  Farmer,  secretary.  The 
bank  is  located  in  the  remodeled  Central  Building.  109  E.  Broadway. 
The  CoMMr.Nnv  Savi.vgs  and  Co.^rMERCIAL  Bank 

This  is  the  latest  financial  institution  offering  its  services  to  the 
Glendale  people.  It  was  organized  November  13,  1922,  with  a  paid 
up  capital  of  $40,000  by  the  following  gentlemen:  Daniel  Campbell, 
^Iax  Baj-ha,  George  Bentley.  Geo.  \'.  Black.  Arthur  Campbell,  Her- 
bert L.  Eaton.  Geo.  B.  Carr,  W.  W.  Lee.  W.  C.  B.  Richardson. 

The  above  constitute  the  Board  of  Directors  with  Mr.  Dan  Camp- 
bell as  chairman;  Mr.  W.  W.  Lee,  president;  John  Logan  and  Dan 
Campbell,  vice  presidents;  Mr.  H.  J.  Wellman,  cashier.  The  institu- 
tion is  located  on  San  Fernando  Road  near  Brand  Boulevard  and  only 
open  for  business  three  months  has  deposits  aggregating  $135,000. 
This  bank  occujiies  a  central  place  in  a  rapidly  grt)wing  business  por- 
tion of  the  city  and  promises  a  rapid  growth  and  ever  increasing  use- 
fulness. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  SCHOOLS  OF  GLENDALE 

THE  SEPULV^EDA  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  THE  FIRST  SCHOOL- 
HOUSE.  EARLY  TEACHERS.  GEO.  D.  HOWLAXD  AND  PROF.  S.  E. 
COLEMAN  TELL  OF  THEIR  EXPERIENCES.  BUILDING  OF  THE 
SCHOOLHOUSE  AT  "TROPICO."  THE  BROADWAY  SCHOOLHOUSE 
DIVISION  OF  THE  DISTRICT.  GROWTH  OF  THE  ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOLS.    THEIR  CONDITION  UP  TO  DATE. 

Tlie  story  of  the  public  school.s  of  Glendale  is  familiar  to  the 
writer  back  as  far  as  1883.  Details  of  the  Sepulveda  school  district 
previous  to  that  time  are  difificult  to  obtain  as  the  records  of  the 
county  superintendent's  office  are  rather  fragmentary.  The  Sepul- 
veda School  District,  as  it  was  then  named,  practically  covered  origin- 
ally all  of  the  Rancho  San  Rafael,  having  the  Arroyo  Seco  for  its 
eastern  boundary,  the  Providencia  Ranch  for  its  westerly  line  and 
extending  over  all  the  territory  between  the  top  of  the  Sierras  and 
the  Los  Angeles  river.  .Along  about  1880,  however,  the  easterly 
boundary  was  made  to  terminate  at  the  Los  Angeles  city  limits,  which 
at  that  time,  where  the  city  line  crossed  the  San  Fernando  Road,  was 
just  east  of  where  the  Taylor  Milling  company  now  is  located.  In 
1880  the  territory  now  covered  by  Pasadena,  was  the  San  Pasqual 
School  District,  having  that  year  133  census  children  (between  ages 
of  5  and  17  years). 

Then  came  Sepulveda  with  109  children  of  school  age,  nine  of 
whom  were  classed  as  "Indians."  These  disappeared  in  subsequent 
years,  however,  which  indicates  that  they  were  nomads  and  had 
gone  to  other  pastures.  On  the  west  was  the  Providencia  district, 
which  included  all  of  the  San  Fernando  valley  westward  to  where  it 
joined  the  San  Fernando  district.  The  latter  district  had  110  children 
in  1880,  while  Providencia  had  seventeen.  In  1881  the  number  of 
children  in  the  Sepulveda  district  had  dwindled  to  97.  indicating  that 
the  Indians  were  missed.  The  total  expenditures  for  the  district 
for  that  year  were  $1,205.66. 

By  1882  the  number  of  children  had  increased  to  130,  of  which 
72  were  classed  as  "White."  The  school  census  was  taken  in  June, 
the  apportionment  of  money  by  the  state  being  based  on  the  number 
of  children  in  the  district  and  the  average  attendance.  It  was  in- 
tended that  there  should  be  one  teacher  for  every  70  children  enumer- 
ated. At  that  time  there  was  no  compulsory  school  law  and  it  is 
noted  that  in  that  year  there  were  70  of  the  130  children  in  the  district 
who  did  not  attend  school. 

In  1883,  the  year  that  the  development  of  the  valley  started,  the 
new  settlers  did  not  get  in  in  time  to  be  counted  evidently,  for  there 


198  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

were  only  150  children  enumerated,  89  designated  as  "Whites,"  there 
being  two  Chinese  among  those  present.  It  is  noted  that  there  were 
70  children  listed  as  not  attending  school  the  previous  year.  By  June, 
1884,  the  number  of  school  age  children  had  increased  to  235,  with 
85  not  attending  school.  In  1885  there  were  244  enumerated.  In 
1886  the  district  was  divided,  the  La  Canada  district  being  created. 
The  first  school  house  in  the  Sepulveda  district  was  located  on 
Verdugo  Road  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Sycamore  Canyon  Road,  a 
small  one-story  whitewashed  building.  In  1883  when  the  necessity 
for  a  new  schoolhouse  became  imperative,  the  trustees  of  the  district 
were  H.  J.  Crow,  J.  F.  Dunsmoor  and  George  Engelhardt. 

Dunsmoor's  hom'?  was  located  on  San  Fernando  Road  under  a 
big  oak  tree  that  stood  on  a  little  knoll  between  the  railroad  tracks 
and  the  river,  below  the  winery.  Crow  was  located  at  Lomita  Park. 
Engelhardt  had  moved  out  from  Los  Angeles  the  previous  year  and 
was  located  in  Verdugo  Canyon,  having  a  hundred  acres  or  so  of 
mountain  land,  with  a  house  on  the  bluff  overlooking  the  Verdugo 
Creek,  or  "wash,"  near  where  at  present  a  rock  crusher  has  been 
located  and  gravel  is  being  taken  out.  Mr.  Engelhardt  had  a  large 
family  and  there  were  a  number  of  families  of  native  Californians  in 
the  vicinity  who  figured  numerously  in  the  school  census  and  when 
Engelhardt  insisted  that  the  children  in  his  neighborhood  should 
have  a  schoolhouse  in  that  vicinity,  the  weight  of  his  argument 
appealed  to  the  other  trustees  as  reasonable  and  it  was  agreed  that 
if  the  voters  in  the  canyon  would  support  the  proposition  to  bond 
the  district  for  a  new  school  house  to  be  located  at  Tropico  (not  then 
in  existence)  the  old  building  should  be  moved  further  up  the  canyon. 
This  was  done  and  it  settled  near  the  point  where  the  direct  road  to 
Crescenta  is  joined  by  the  road  running  near  the  base  of  the  hills 
westward. 

Mr.  Engelhardt  was  a  practical  politician  in  those  days  when  one 
man  could,  if  he  knew  how,  fi.x  the  tickets  for  all  those  of  his  neigh- 
bors who  were  inclined  to  take  the  franchise  not  too  seriously ;  and 
he  kept  his  promise,  the  bond  issue  being  put  through  successfully 
and  the  schoolhouse  built.  This  does  not  end  the  story  of  the  little 
whitewashed  schoolhouse,  however.  A  school  being  established  at 
La  Canada  in  1886,  it  was  agreed  that  as  a  second  school  was  needed 
in  the  Sepulveda  district,  the  old  house  should  travel  down  the 
Verdugo  Road  again,  as  it  did,  settling  on  or  near  its  original  site.  It 
remained  there  for  two  years,  when,  as  the  schoolhouse  on  Broadway 
had  been  built,  it  was  bought  by  Mr.  \V.  G.  Watson,  and  closed  its 
career  ingloriously  as  a  barn.  Mr.  Coleman's  story  of  this  school 
which  appears  in  the  following  pages,  fits  in  here. 

In  1883,  Mr.  George  D.  Rowland  (now  a  lawyer  in  Los  Angeles) 
was  the  first  teacher  in  the  new  building  at  Tropico.  Of  this  time, 
Mr.  Rowland  says:  "I  was  the  first  principal  of  the  district  and  the 
first  teacher  in  the  new  schoolhouse,  being  all  alone  during  the  first 
year.  Preceding  my  advent  there  had  i)een  but  one  teacher  at  a 
time  and  the  attendance  now  doubled.  The  next  year  Miss  Fannie 
Quesnel  (now  Mrs.  W.  D.  Byram)  became  my  assistant.    After  two 


The  West  C.kndale  and  Tropico  Schools 
of  the  Past. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  201 

years  at  'Sepulveda'  I  took  the  principalship  of  the  Wilmington 
school  and  Miss  Quesnel  l^ecame  principal  at  Sepulveda.  The  trustees 
at  that  time  were  H.  J.  Crow,  Frank  Duiismoor  and  George  Engel- 
hardt.  As  I  recall  it  now,  1  received  a  salary  of  $75  per  month  the 
first  year,  the  second  year  $87.50;  Miss  Quesnel  received  $50. 

"One  day  the  Downey  Avenue  bridge  washed  out,  and  the  water 
in  the  Arroyo  Seco  was  too  high  for  my  horse  and  cart  to  ford,  so 
I  borrowed  a  saddlehi>rse  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Sherer  who  was  employed  in 
the  telegraph  office  in  the  Baker  Block,  Los  Angeles,  and  made  the 
round  tri]).  At  another  time  all  the  bridges  over  the  river  were 
washed  out  and  I  with  others  picked  my  way  over  the  twisted  rails 
of  the  S.  P.  bridge,  and  walked.  The  second  year  I  boarded  with 
Major  Mitchell's  family  near  the  schoolhouse.  During  the  latter  part 
of  that  year,  owing  to  sickness  in  the  Mitchell  family,  1  went  to  Mr. 
Richardson's  to  board. 

"When  I  opened  school  in  1883  only  one  room  was  provided  with 
desks,  but  before  the  year  ended  desks  were  put  in  the  other  room 
and  I  was  handling  a  school  of  seventy  pupils,  from  the  beginning  of 
the  primary  grade  up  to  about  the  second  high  school  year.  The 
school  was  strictly  graded  and  worked  according  to  the  county  course 
of  study  and  all  work  was  completed  on  time  although  there  was 
frequently  only  ten  minutes  for  a  recitation.  I  had  the  complete 
cooperation  of  pupils  and  parents,  without  which  I  never  could  have 
stood  up  under  the  work.  While  one  class  was  passing  to  their  seats 
another  was  forming  for  recitation.  The  County  Superintendent 
said  that  no  school  had  pupils  wider  awake  or  quicker  to  respond. 
W^ith  such  timber  to  build  with,  the  valley  had  to  grow." 

In  1886  occurred  the  first  division  of  the  district,  when  La 
Canada  district  was  formed.  Miss  Helen  M.  Haskell,  teacher,  with 
35  children  enrolled.  A  year  later  Crescenta  district  was  formed  with 
67  children  in  the  district  and  only  27  enrolled.  Miss  Mary  H.  Merrill, 
teacher.  Eagle  Rock  district  also  came  into  being  about  this  time. 
The  teaching  force  in  the  Sepulveda  district  in  1886  was  Miss  Fanny 
Quesnel,  Miss  Maggie  Tracy  and  Miss  Ida  McCormick. 

Mr.  S.  E.  Coleman,  who  had  been  a  pupil  under  Mr.  Howland 
in  the  "new  schoolhouse,"  began  teaching  in  this  year  in  the  little 
old  schoolhouse  on  Verdugo  Road.  Mr.  Coleman,  who  is  at  this 
time  head  of  the  Department  of  Science  in  the  Oakland  High  school, 
writes  in  an  interesting  manner  of  this  period  as  follows:  "The  little 
old  whitewashed  schoolhouse  on  Verdugo  Road  was,  I  believe,  moved 
down  there  from  the  Canyon  (Verdugo).  School  was  first  organized 
in  it  in  this  location  on  November  1,  1886.  I  remember  the  date  well, 
as  it  was  my  twenty-first  birthday  and  my  first  day  as  a  teacher. 
There  were  about  six  grades,  ranging  from  chart  class  up.  The 
majority  of  the  30  or  35  pupils  scarcely  knew  a  word  of  luiglish.  The 
room  was  small  and  crowded  to  the  walls.  In  fact  the  outer  row  of 
seats  on  each  side  was  placed  against  the  wall  and  a  board  seat 
extended  across  the  room  from  side  to  side  against  the  rear  wall. 
On  the  opening  day  I  had  a  small  drygoods  box  for  a  seat.  We  had 
a  small  chart   for  the  chart  class  and  a  'blackboard'   of  cloth  stretched 


202  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

against  the  wall.  It  was  a  crude  beginning  and  a  very  green  hand 
in  charge. 

"The  following  year  the  school  was  moved  to  the  new  building  on 
Fourth  Street.  I  was  the  only  teacher,  only  one  room  being  used  that 
year.  After  completing  this  second  year,  I  entered  the  Normal  school 
in  Los  Angeles,  from  which  I  graduated  two  years  later.  My  first 
teacher's  certificate  was  of  the  second  grade,  obtained  in  Los  Angeles 
on  examination,  my  preparation  for  which  was  obtained  in  the  Glen- 
dale  (Tropico)  school,  supplemented  by  some  self-directed  reading." 

Mr.  Coleman's  experience  since  that  time  includes  terms  of  teach- 
ing it!  Ventura,  Riverside,  Los  Angeles  High,  San  Jose  High,  and 
Oakland  Technical  High  School.  In  the  intervals  he  has  found  time 
to  graduate  at  Berkeley  and  to  put  in  two  years  study  at  Harvard. 

In  1887  Miss  Haskell  was  teaching  in  La  Canada  with  37  pupils 
enrolled.  Schools  had  also  been  established  at  Crescenta  and  at 
Eagle  Rock.  In  1888  Miss  Elva  B.  Williams  was  teaching  at  La 
Canada;  Miss  Mary  H.  Merrill  at  Crescenta  and  Miss  Augusta 
Stevens  at  Eagle  Rock.  Sepulveda  district  for  that  year  had  161 
pupils  enrolled  with  216  children  of  school  age  in  the  district. 

Following  Mr.  Howland,  Miss  Fannie  Quesnel  became  principal 
in  1886,  with  Miss  Maggie  Tracy  and  Miss  Ida  McCormick  as 
assistants.  Miss  Quesnel  married  Mr.  W.  D.  Byram  and  for  many 
years  was  well  known  in  Los  Angeles  as  being  connected  with 
county  welfare  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Byram  are  at  present  residing 
in  San  Francisco.  Miss  Flora  Denton,  an  accomplished  lady  who 
afterwards  entered  the  Foreign  Mission  field  over  in  China,  suc- 
ceeded Miss  Quesnel  with  Mr.  W.  C.  Hayes  as  assistant. 

In  1888  Mr.  W.  R.  Chandler  came  to  the  Tropico  school  as 
principal  with  Miss  Laura  Campbell  as  assistant.  In  1889  Miss 
Marden  (well  known  as  Mrs.  Wesley  H.  Bullis)  came  to  the  Tropico 
school  as  assistant  with  Mr.  Chandler,  teaching  there  continuously 
for  eight  years,  the  latter  three  or  four  years  under  Mr.  Sherman 
Roberts  as  the  principal.  Mr.  Roberts  was  a  local  product,  who  lived 
with  his  parents  on  Verdugo  Road  near  what  is  now  Glassell  Park, 
and  is  remembered  by  the  writer  of  this  history  as  traveling  daily  on 
school  days  between  his  home  and  Los  Angeles  while  in  attendance 
at  the  Normal  school  in  that  city.  Mr.  William  Malcom  succeeded 
Mr.  Roberts  as  principal  for  three  or  four  years. 

As  previously  stated,  the  Broadway  school  was  erected  in  1887 
at  a  cost  of  about  $.^,200  for  the  building  and  $500  for  two  school  lots. 
Realizing  the  fact  that  the  grounds  were  not  large  enough,  the  people 
of  the  neighborhood  took  up  a  collection  and  purchased  one  or  two 
additional  lots  which  they  donated  to  the  district.  Mr.  Coleman  was 
the  first  teacher  in  the  new  building,  only  one  of  the  rooms  being 
in  use.  To  this  school  in  1888  came  Miss  Margaret  Clark  who  taught 
there  three  years.  Miss  Dora  Brown  taught  with  Miss  Clark  during 
the  last  year  of  Miss  Clark's  principalship  and  a  part  of  the  following 
year,  resigning  to  become  Mrs.  Baker,  and  being  succeeded  by  Miss 
Emma  Sovereign,  who  was  assistant  with  Miss  May  Stansberry, 
who  became  principal  in   1891.     In   Miss   Stansberry 's  second  year 


GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY  203 

Miss  Mary  Baright  taught  the  two  lower  grades.  The  following  year 
Miss  Baright  took  charge  of  the  newly  established  school  in  West 
Glendale  in  the  upper  story  of  the  brick  building  on  San  Fernando 
Road,  which  later  became  a  winery.  Miss  Baright  was  married  the 
following  year  to  Mr.  James  Dunsmoor,  the  son  of  J.  F.  Dunsmoor, 
a  pioneer  of  the  early  '80's. 

In  1896-97  Prof.  Edward  L.  French  was  principal  of  this  school. 
Professor  French  was  a  man  of  unusual  culture.  He  had  been  con- 
nected with  Wells  College  in  New  York  before  coming  to  Glendale, 
and  was  a  man  of  great  personal  attraction,  who  had  a  faculty  of 
imparting  to  his  pupils  much  information  of  a  useful  nature  which 
was  not  found  in  the  text-books.  One  of  his  assistants  during  one  of 
these  years  was  Miss  Margaret  Thomas,  who  subsequently  went 
from  Berkeley  University  to  take  up  the  work  of  teaching  in  the 
Philippine  Islands.  She  is  now  Mrs.  McBee,  a  resident  of  North 
Carolina;  her  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Thomas,  still  residing  in 
Glendale.  In  1898  Mr.  W.  H.  Holland  became  princi])al  at  this  school, 
being  assisted  by  Miss  \'iola  Bacchus  of  Eagle  Rock.  During  this 
period  the  salary  of  the  principal  of  the  schools  in  this  district  was 
$80  and  $90  per  month.  The  average  attendance  in  1899  was  89, 
reaching  105  in  1903  when  three  teachers  were  employed. 

From  1899  to  1902,  Mr.  Ernest  Babcock  was  principal.  He  is 
now  "Professor"'  Babcock  of  the  State  University.  Assisting  him  at 
various  times  were  the  following:  Cornelia  E.  Bowen,  Josephine  A. 
Bont,  Martha  Bohan,  Lula  .A..  Diffenbacher.  In  1892  the  Sepulveda 
district  was  cut  up  and  formed  the  districts  of  Glendale,  West  Glen- 
dale and  Tropico. 

In  the  fall  of  1902  Mr.  M.  W.  Lorbeer  was  appointed  principal, 
teaching  for  two  terms.  In  addition  to  his  work  as  teacher,  Mr.  Lor- 
beer, with  his  wife,  was  active  in  civic  matters  during  his  residence 
in  Glendale,  taking  an  active  part  in  the  work  of  Improvement  Asso- 
ciation, the  literary  society,  church,  etc.  During  his  first  term  his 
assistants  were  Miss  Frances  Hendershott  and  Miss  Cornelia  Bowen. 
In  his  second  year,  Miss  Ida  Waite  became  assistant  teacher  in  place 
of  Miss  Bowen,  beginning  at  that  time  her  long  and  useful  career  in 
Glendale.    The  average  attendance  at  this  school  in  1904  was  124. 

In  1905,  Mary  Ogden  Ryan,  who  had  been  teaching  at  the  West 
Glendale  school  since  1897,  came  to  the  Broadway  as  principal.  She 
arrived  at  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  remarkable  growth  in  the  schools 
as  in  the  community  at  large.  The  average  attendance  for  the  term 
of  1905-06  was  247,  almost  exactly  double  that  of  two  years  before 
and  the  corps  of  teachers  had  increased  to  five,  Mrs.  Ryan  being  sup- 
ported by  Misses  Ida  M.  Waite,  Frances  Hendershott,  Edna  Ballan- 
tyne  and  Norah  Harnett.  During  the  term  of  1906-07,  the  assistant 
teachers  were  Misses  Ida  M.  Waite,  Helen  Best.  Lucile  Shultz, 
Frances  Hendershott  and  Annie  Mclntyre. 

The  Colorado  street  school  opened  in  1908  with  Miss  Waite  as 
principal,  a  position  she  still  holds.  The  opening  of  this  school 
reduced  the  attendance  at  the  Broadway  to  a  daily  average  of  219 
which  in  1912-13  had  increased  to  245.    From  this  time  forward  it  is 


204  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

not  possible  nor  desirable  to  follow  the  growth  of  the  schools  in 
detail. 

In  1903  a  new  school  building  was  erected  on  Broadway,  succeed- 
ing the  structure  that  was  erected  in  1887.  This  was  removed  in 
1921  to  be  succeeded  by  the  handsome  up-to-date  structure  of  the 
present.  At  the  time  this  history  is  written,  the  erection  of  one  or 
more  school  buildings  in  the  different  parts  of  the  city,  is  a  matter 
of  yearly  occurrence.  Mr.  Richardson  D.  White  became  principal 
of  the  Glendale  Grammar  School  district  in  1913  and  to  him  we  are 
indebted  for  the  following  brief  sketch  of  the  system  up  to  date. 

History  of  the  Glend.xle  Schools 
From   Sept.,  1913,  to  Date 

With  the  opening  of  the  fall  term  of  school  in  1913  there  were 
five  schools  in  operation  in  Glendale,  the  Central  Avenue  School 
having  been  opened  at  that  date  for  the  first  time.  These  five  schools 
employed  altogether  approximately  36  teachers.  This  did  not  include 
the  Tropico  school  which  employed  at  that  time  about  ten  teachers. 
The  enrollment  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  1,100.  The  Board  of 
Trustees  at  this  time  consisted  of  Mr.  A.  B.  Heacock,  Mr.  C.  S. 
Westlake  and  Mr.  David  Black. 

For  the  next  two  years,  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
schools  was  steady  and  continuous  so  that  at  the  opening  of  school 
in  September,  1915,  the  total  enrollment  was  1,239,  which  included 
the  pupils  in  the  two  new  schools  provided  for  in  the  bond  issue  of 
May,  1914.  These  schools,  the  Pacific  Avenue  and  Doran  Street 
schools,  were  opened  in  January,  1915. 

At  this  time  the  war  in  Europe  was  well  under  way  and  this 
country  was  feeling  its  effects  in  many  ways,  one  of  them  being  the 
slowing  up  of  immigration  into  California.  As  a  result  of  this  the 
Glendale  schools  showed  a  very  small  increase  in  enrollment  for  the 
next  three  years,  the  only  marked  change  being  caused  by  the  annexa- 
tion of  Tropico  which  added  about  300  pupils.  The  figures  for  the 
enrollment  on  the  opening  dav  of  school  for  these  three  years  are  as 
follows:  1915,  1,239;  1916,  1,296;  1917,  1,324;  1918,  1,698.  The  last 
figure  includes  the  Tropico  schools.  Thus  in  the  year  1918  the  Glen- 
dale school  system  started  with  ten  schools  and  the  total  enrollment 
indicated  above. 

Since  the  close  of  the  world  war,  the  schools  of  Glendale  furnish 
a  very  good  index  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  city.  In  fact,  the  num- 
bers have  increased  so  rapidly  that  it  has  been  impossible  to  pursue 
a  building  program  that  would  furnish  adequate  accommodations  for 
the  number  of  pupils  enrolled.  The  figures  given  below  will  perhaps 
indicate  this  better  than  anything  that  could  be  said.  Opening  day 
enrollment:  September,  1918,  1,698;  September,  1919,  1,723;  Sep- 
tember, 1920,  2,169;  September,  1921.  2,850;  September.  1922,  3,476. 

So  great  had  this  increase  become  in  September,  1921,  that  the 
demand  for  more  school  rooms  was  very  insistent  and  the  need  very 
evident.     So  much  was  this  the  case,  that  in  October,  1921,  bonds 


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The   First.  S(.-coiul  ;m(l   the   IVi'Sciit   Broadwav   Schools. 


GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY  207 

were  voted  in  the  sum  of  $260,000  for  tlie  purpose  of  furnishing  addi- 
tional classroom  accommodations.  With  the  money  voted  at  this 
time  the  Board  has  built  two  new  schools,  the  Glendale  Avenue 
school,  with  eight  classrooms  and  Manual  Training.  Cooking  and 
Sewing  rooms,  and  the  Grandview  school  with  four  classrooms. 
Besides  these  the  Board  has  built  a  four-room  addition  to  the  Acacia 
.Avenue  school,  and  has  constructed  the  first  unit  of  four  rooms  of 
what  will  ultimately  be  the  permanent  building  on  the  Columbus 
Avenue  site.  In  addition  to  these  buildings  it  was  necessary  to  use 
approximately  $80,000  for  sites  and  additions  to  sites. 

In  spite  of  all  this,  as  we  start  on  the  school  year  1^22-23.  almost 
every  school  in  the  district  is  crowded  beyond  its  normal  cajiacity 
and  there  apjiears  to  be  no  remedy  in  sight  except  to  build  more 
schoolrooms. 

With  the  advancement  in  numbers  and  size  the  Glendale  Cit\' 
Schools  have  also  made  decided  progress  from  the  educational  stand- 
point. The  Board  is  at  all  times  careful  to  select  progressive  and 
up-to-date  teachers,  with  the  result  that  the  Glendale  schools  rank 
high  in  the  California  educational  system. 

Another  factor  that  has  tended  to  advance  the  standard  of  our 
schools  was  the  incorporation  of  the  city  under  a  charter  in  May, 
•  921,  resulting  in  the  election  of  a  Board  of  Education  of  five  mem- 
bers as  follows:  Mr.  D.  J.  Hibben.  Mrs.  Nettie  C.  Brown,  Mrs.  A. 
A.  Barton.  Mr.  David  Black  and  Dr.  P.  O.  Lucas.  Since  that  time 
Mr.  Black  has  resigned  and  is  now  employed  by  the  Board  as  business 
manager,  and  his  place  has  been  filled  by  the  appointment  of  Mr.  E. 
H.  Learned.  With  an  independent  Board  of  Education  having  power 
under  the  law  to  formulate  its  own  course  of  study,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  the  schools  will  advance  even  more  rapidly 
than  heretofore. 

At  the  present  time  the  school  organization  consists  of  ten 
elementary  schools  and  two  intermediate  schools,  employing  alto- 
gether 121  teachers  and  25  other  employees. 

As  is  natural  under  the  circumstances  the  change  from  a  village 
to  a  city  school  system  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  years,  has  resulted 
in  the  necessity  for  a  great  many  adjustments.  It  has  been  especially 
difficult  this  year  to  fit  the  children  into  the  rooms  because  of  the 
greater  growth  in  some  neighborhoods  than  in  others. 


GLENDALE  UNION  HIGH  SCHOOL 

HOW  IT  CAME  TO  BE  ORGANIZED.  STARTS  IN  THE  GLENDALE 
HOTEL  BUILDING.  THE  FIRST  TEACHERS.  EARLY  DAY  POLITICS. 
THE  FIRST  SCHOOL  BUILDING.  EARLY  BOND  ISSUES.  FIRST  BUILD- 
ING SOON  OUTGROWN.  NEW  SITE  AND  NEW  BUILDING.  SALE  OF 
THE  ORIGINAL  PROPERTY.  EVIDENCES  OF  GROWTH.  THE  LATEST 
"NEW  SITE"  AND  THE  BUILDING  PLAN.    CONDITIONS  UP  TO  DATE. 

This  High  School  district  was  organized  in  1901  by  a  combina- 
tion of  the  following  grammar  school  districts :  Glendale,  repre- 
sented by  Mr.  E.  D.  Goode;  Eagle  Rock,  P.  W.  Parker;  Burbank, 
George  C.  Melrose;  Ivanhoe,  D.  W.  Dwire;  Crescenta,  C.  Pleukarp; 


208  GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Tropico,  E.  W.  Richardson ;  West  Glendale.  F.  R.  Pitman.  The  school 
opened  in  a  room  of  the  Glendale  Hotel  building,  with  Mr.  Llewellyn 
Evans  as  principal  and  Miss  Mary  G.  Edwards,  assistant.  The  total 
enrollment  was  28  and  the  average  attendance  22. 

The  second  year  the  enrollment  was  56,  average  attendance  42, 
showing  an  increase  of  almost  exacth-  100  per  cent. 

The  third  year,  Mr.  George  U.  Moyse  came  to  Glendale  as  prin- 
cipal of  the  High  School  and  has  retained  the  position  until  the 
present,  aiding  in  and  witnessing  the  growth  of  the  institution  from 
this  modest  beginning  up  to  the  present  time  when  the  enrollment 
is  over  1.800.  With  Mr.  Moyse  the  first  year  were  Miss  Edwards  and 
Miss  Sue  Barnwell  as  assistants.  There  was  considerable  rivalry 
between  Glendale  and  Tropico  over  the  location  of  the  school,  but 
in  Mr.  Goode  as  a  representative  of  Glendale  it  was  safely  assumed 
that  Glendale  would  lose  no  points  in  the  game  and  so  it  came  to 
pass  that  through  the  prompt  action  of  some  three  or  four  citizens 
of  the  latter  place,  a  brief  option  was  obtained  on  a  two  and  a  half 
acre  lot  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Brand  Boulevard  and  Fourth 
Street  (Broadway)  where  the  three-story  bank  building  now  stands; 
these  few  citizens  taking  the  responsibility  upon  themselves  of  buying 
it  for  the  sum  of  $750  for  the  use  of  the  Union  High  School  district. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Glendale  Improvement  Association.  June 
24,  1902,  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt  the  chairman,  announced  that  "six  citizens 
had  guaranteed  the  payment  of  the  sum  of  $750  for  the  purchase  of 
a  piece  of  land  containing  two  and  a  half  acres,  as  a  donation  to  the 
school  district,"  making  an  appeal  to  citizens  generally  to  come  to 
the  relief  of  these  public-spirited  citizens.  The  appeal  was  not  made 
in  vain  and  within  a  few  days  the  money  was  raised,  the  owner  of 
the  property.  Mr.  John  A.  Merrill,  contributing  $200  of  this  sum. 
The  first  bond  issue  of  the  district  was  for  the  modest  sum  of  $10,000, 
which  was  sufficient  to  construct  a  two-story  frame  building,  thought 
at  the  time  to  afford  ample  accommodations  for  any  demand  upon 
the  district  for  probably  the  next  five  years. 

The  importance  of  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of  this  building 
was  fully  appreciated  by  the  Improvement  Association,  for  it  is 
recorded' that  at  the  meeting  of  .'\ugust  12,  1902,  Mr.  E.  T.  Byram 
suggested  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  have  charge  of  the 
cornerstone  ceremonies,  and  the  following  citizens  were  appointed 
by  the  chairman:  E.  T.  Byram,  E.  D.  Goode,  F.  G.  Taylor,  J.  F. 
Mclntyre,  E.  W.  Pack,  Edgar  Leavitt  and  W.  Prosser  Penn.  Subse- 
quently, Mr.  Pack  being  unable  to  serve,  Mr.  J.  C.  Sherer  was 
appointed  in  his  place. 

At  the  meeting  of  September  ninth,  the  committee  made  a  report 
which  was  adopted,  presenting  a  program  for  the  cornerstone  cere- 
monies to  take  place  at  3  o'clock  P.  M.,  September  13,  1902.  The 
committee  also  stated  that  a  special  train  would  leave  Los  Angeles 
for  Glendale  on  the  Salt  Lake  Railroad  at  2:15  P.  M.,  special  round- 
trip  fare  25  cents.  The  ceremonies  took  place  as  scheduled.  The 
principal  speaker  was  Rev.  H.  K.  Walker  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Los  Angeles;  Mr.  J.  H.  Strine,  County  Superintendent  of 


The  Glcndalc  Union  High  School  of  the  Past  and  IVcscnt. 


GliiuhJc   rnion   Hiyh   School   to   be   Lonstnicud   iii    IMi.i,   I'roni   Architect's   Plans. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  211 

Schools  also  made  an  address,  as  did  Mr.  Theodore  D.  Kanouse  of 
Glendale.  Papers  of  an  historical  nature  were  read  hy  E.  D.  Goode 
and  J.  C.  Sherer.  and  ministers  from  the  several  grammar  school 
districts,  offered  prayer  or  read  brief  scripture  lessons.  There  was 
vocal  music  by  a  quartette  and  the  audience  sang  "America."  The 
building  was  ready  for  service,  December  second.  It  occupied  a  lone- 
some position,  there  being  no  other  building  within  two  blocks  of 
it.  Mr.  Moyse  entered  upon  his  duties  as  principal,  with  three 
assistants.  Misses  Mary  G.  Edwards.  Sue  Barnwell  and  Frances  E. 
Snell. 

The  first  graduating  class  consisted  of  the  following:  Lillie  Fay 
Goode  and  Nora  Lyman,  of  Glendale;  Helen  Barra,  of  Tropico  and 
Flora  Kuhn  of  Burbank. 

Burbank  withdrew  from  the  district  in  1908  and  built  a  High 
School  of  its  own.  Ivanhoe  left  the  district  when  that  section  became 
a  part  of  Los  Angeles  and  considerable  more  territory  was  lost  when 
Los  Angeles  absorbed  all  the  territory  along  the  San  Fernando  Road 
up  to  the  Tropico  line.  Crescenta  and  Tejunga  were  later  taken  into 
the  Glendale  Union  High  School  district,  which  now  comprises  five 
grammar  school  districts. 

By  November,  1907,  there  were  115  students  enrolled  and  it  was 
realized  that  the  original  building  was  much  too  small  and  that  addi- 
tional grounds  should  be  secured  for  the  outdoor  activities  of  the 
school.  On  November  9,  1907,  a  mass  meeting  decided  to  submit  to 
the  voters  the  question  of  issuing  bonds  to  the  extent  of  $60,000  to 
buy  a  new  site  and  erect  another  building.  The  election  took  place 
in  April,  1908.  the  bond  issue  being  supported.  The  new  site  ex- 
tended from  Fifth  (Harvard)  Street  to  Sixth  (Colorado)  and  from 
Louise  Street  to  Maryland  Avenue. 

On  April  18,  1908,  a  mass  meeting  was  held  for  the  purpose  of 
authorizing  the  sale  of  the  original  High  School  lot.  A  small  syn- 
dicate of  real  estate  dealers  had  planned  to  buy  the  property  for  ten 
thousand  dollars,  but  a  few  independent  citizens  headed  by  Mr.  O.  A. 
Lane,  who  had  other  ideas  of  its  value,  held  out  against  the  accept- 
ance of  this  offer  and  it  was  rejected,  a  committee  being  appointed 
with  authority-  to  sell  at  not  less  than  $12,000.  The  next  day  the 
property  was  sold  for  $13,000  to  D.  L.  Swain. 

The  cornerstone  of  the  new  building  was  not  laid  until  November 
28,  1908.  The  land  and  building  with  the  necessary  equipment  cost 
about  $75,000,  which  left  the  trustees  to  handle  the  problem  of  a  finan- 
cial shortage  of  $15,0(X).  The  sale  of  the  old  site,  however,  brought 
in  about  $13,(XX)  and  made  the  problem  easy  of  solution.  The  new- 
building  was  occupied  in  September,  1909.  At  that  time  the  enroll- 
ment was  166,  which  by  the  end  of  the  term  had  increased  to  203 
and  by  January,  1911,  to  240.  In  .August,  1910,  there  were  twelve 
teachers  employed  and  the  bonded  debt  of  the  district  was  $55,092. 
The  attendance  increased  steadily  and  by  1914  had  reached  340. 

In  the  early  part  of  that  year  it  became  apparent  that  additional 
facilities  must  be  obtained  and  it  was  decided  to  ask  the  voters  to 


212  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

support  a  proposition  to  buy  more  land  and  put  up  additional  build- 
ings. The  proposition  was  supported  at  the  polls  and  an  issue  of 
$100,000  authorized.  An  appeal  was  made  to  the  city  authorities  for 
the  abandonment  of  Maryland  Avenue,  from  Fifth  to  Si.xth  Streets, 
so  that  a  tier  of  lots  facing  the  first-named  street  on  the  west  could 
be  purchased  and  a  solid  addition  be  made  to  the  school  grounds  on 
that  side.  The  city  trustees  acceded  to  this  request,  the  street  was 
abandoned  and  the  lots  purchased.  Several  houses  stood  on  the  lots 
thus  acquired  and  these  were  sold,  adding  to  the  resources  of  the 
school  and  making  possible  the  erection  of  two  more  substantial 
school  buildings. 

In  1920  it  became  apparent  that  still  further  additions  would 
have  to  be  made  to  the  jjlant.  The  voters  refused  to  authorize  an 
expensive  plan  furnished  by  the  school  trustees,  giving  expression 
to  an  intention  to  resist  the  proposition  of  making  any  additions  to 
the  school  grounds  on  the  present  site.  This  resulted  in  the  voting 
of  a  bond  issue  of  $60,000  and  the  erection  of  a  number  of  frame 
buildings  of  bungalow  type.  At  this  election  the  people  voted  on 
the  securing  of  a  new  site  for  the  school.  Several  months  of  agitation 
followed,  a  committee  of  citizens  being  appointed  to  investigate  and 
make  a  recommendation.  The  committee  finally  made  a  report, 
recommending  the  purchase  of  approximately  21  acres  at  the  south- 
east corner  of  Verdugo  Road  and  Broadway,  about  twelve  acres  of 
the  proposed  purchase  consisting  of  an  orange  orchard  of  25  year  old 
trees,  belonging  to  Mr.  J.  P.  Lukens.  There  was  a  lively  contest  in 
this  campaign;  another  site  belonging  to  Mr.  J.  R.  Grey,  near  the 
Patterson  Avenue  park,  being  favored  by  a  large  number  of  citizens. 
In  the  voting  a  large  majority  was  polled  in  favor  of  the  Lukens  site 
and  the  sum  of  $85,000  in  bonds  was  authorized  to  be  issued  for  the 
purchase,  which  was  made  after  some  months  delay.  In  June,  1922, 
a  bond  issue  of  $600,000  was  authorized  to  pay  for  the  new  plant. 
Meanwhile  the  ever-increasing  growth  of  the  school  led  the  trustees 
to  conclude  that  the  sum  voted  was  insufiflcient  for  the  erection  of 
such  buildings  as  in  the  opinion  of  the  school  authorities,  was 
required  for  future  demands,  and  amplified  plans  were  prepared  and 
the  additional  sum  of  $450,000  was  asked,  making  a  total  for  the  new 
plant  of  approximately  a  million  dollars.  The  voters  refused  to 
authorize  the  prt)posed  increase  and  several  months'  delay  resulted 
before  work  was  started  for  the  improvement  of  the  new  site.  Early 
in  1923  contracts  will  be  let  and  work  begun  on  what  promises  to 
become  one  of  the  most  complete  and  attractive  High  School  plants 
in  Southern  California.  The  following  table  showing  average  daily 
attendance  at  the  Glendale  Union  High  school  for  a  number  of  years 
indicates  as  accurately  as  any  other  statistics  that  might  be  given, 
the  growth  of  the  community:  1909,  167;  1910,  210;  1911,  245; 
1912,  290;  191.^,  .340;  1914,  369;  1915,  482;  1916,  512;  1917,  540;  1918. 
576;  1919,  680;  1920,  812;  1921,  1,188;  1^22,  the  i.resent  year,  about 
1,800. 

The  force  of  teachers  at  present  is  seventy-two  in  number. 


GLEXDALE  ANT)  \aCINITY  213 

One  of  the  original  promoters  of  the  High  School  enterprise 
was  Mr.  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  a  well  known  citizen  of  Glendale.  who  speaks 
of  it  as  follows : 

"I  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Glendale  Grammar 
School  district.  When  it  came  to  planning  for  the  graduating  exer- 
cises, we  found  that  we  had  no  auditorium  and  so  it  was  arranged  to 
have  the  program  carried  out  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  this 
was  done. 

"After  the  performance  was  over  several  of  us  were  discussing 
school  affairs  and  Mr.  F.  R.  Sinclair,  another  trustee,  broached  the 
subject  of  a  High  School.  The  suggestion  appealed  favorably  to  Mr. 
T.  D.  Kanouse,  the  third  school  trustee.  It  was  decided  to  go  to 
work  on  the  matter  and  see  what  could  be  done.  Then  we  found  out 
very  quickly  that  there  were  not  enough  school  children  in  Glendale 
to  enable  us  to  secure  the  school.  At  this  time,  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt,  then 
president  of  the  Improvement  Association,  made  the  suggestion  that 
possibly  we  could  combine  several  of  the  nearby  grammar  school 
districts  into  a  Union  High  School  district  and  it  was  agreed  that  I 
should  write  to  County  Superintendent,  J.  H.  Strine,  and  ask  if  this 
could  be  done.  Mr.  Strine  in  his  reply  to  the  letter  stated  that  it 
was  entirely  feasible  and  stated  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  get  up 
a  petition  and  have  it  signed  by  a  majority  of  the  heads  of  families 
in  the  districts  to  be  combined.  A  few  of  us  met  and  planned  the 
campaign.  It  was  decided  to  attempt  to  combine  the  seven  districts 
that  were  after  included  in  the  union  district  and  the  ])etitions  were 
prepared  and  circulated.  Everybody  we  approached  favored  the 
proposition  and  in  a  very  short  time  we  had  the  necessary  names  on 
the  petition  and  then  began  a  campaign  to  locate  the  institution  in 
Glendale.  Tropico,  Burbank  and  Eagle  Rock  all  had  similar  ideas  as' 
to  their  own  sections  and  quite  naturally  there  was  some  rivalry. 

"We  finally  saw  that  in  order  to  get  it  established  here  we  would 
have  to  secure  a  site  and  donate  it  to  the  district.  Mr.  John  A.  Merrill 
had  recently  secured  the  Hotel  property  with  about  fifty  lots  and 
nearly  all  the  property  on  the  south  side  of  Broadway  north  of  what 
is  now  Elk  Avenue,  and  extending  from  Glendale  Avenue  to  Central. 
Mr.  Merrill  entered  heartily  into  the  project  and  offered  us  a  number 
of  lots,  comprising  about  two  and  a  half  acres,  at  a  very  low  price, 
even  for  that  period,  five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  A  half  dozen  of 
us  bought  the  property;  others  came  in  afterwards  and  helped  out. 
Having  a  site  to  present  to  the  district,  which  was  more  than  any 
other  section  had  offered,  we  secured  the  location  of  the  school." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

POST  OFFICES  OF  GLENDALE 

VERDUGO,  THE  FIRST  POST  OFFICE.  MASOX,  AFTERWARDS 
CALLED  "GLENDALE."  ESTABLISHED.  TROPICO  POST  OFFICE 
ABSORBED  BY  LOS  AXGELES.    NOW  INDEPENDENT. 

The  first  accompaniment  of  civilization  that  follows  the  people 
wherever  they  may  go  to  congregate  in  any  considerable  number,  is 
the  post  office.  It  is  the  friendly  hand  of  our  government  reaching 
out  from  its  headquarters  in  the  capital  of  the  nation  to  proffer  its 
service  to  the  people  in  the  near  and  the  far  away  parts  of  our 
common  country.  It  is  the  one  free  and  necessary  service  given 
without  price  or  thought  of  profit.  It  belongs  as  much  to  the  few 
families  on  the  outposts  of  civilization,  whether  in  distant  mountain 
camps,  on  western  prairies,  in  sun  burned  deserts  of  the  south  or  in 
the  lonely  logging  camps  of  northern  forests,  as  it  does  to  the  resident 
of  the  crowded  cities,  and  its  service  is  not  long  impeded  by  the 
fiercest  storms.  And  so  it  came  to  Glendale  when  the  people  were 
few  in  number. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1883  Mr.  Silas  I.  Mayo,  an  old  employee  of 
the  railroad,  and  who  assembled  the  first  locomotive  that  ran  into 
San  Diego  when  the  Southern  California  Railroad  company  ran  its 
first  train  over  the  road  from  Riverside  down  the  Temecula  Canyon, 
concluded  to  retire  to  private  life.  His  wife  was  a  well  known  artist 
at  that  time,  the  family  residing  in  a  house  on  Main  Street  near  the 
corner  of  Fourth  Street,  Los  Angeles,  near  the  site  of  the  Farmers 
and  Merchants  Bank.  Mr.  Mayo  bought  six  acres  of  land  on  V'erdugo 
Road,  at  a  point  that  would  now  corner  on  Maple  Street,  erecting 
thereon  a  two-story  house  and  a  small  store  building,  and  opened 
a  general  store. 

In  1884,  a  post  office  was  established  in  that  store  with  Mr. 
Mayo  as  postmaster.  It  was  named  Verdugo  and  the  mail  service 
for  the  first  year  was  semi-weekly.  The  mail  was  carried  by  George 
Washington  Gray  usually  in  a  lumber  wagon,  as  Mr.  Gray  lived  at 
La  Canada  and  made  frequent  trips  between  his  home  and  Los 
Angeles,  carrying  wood  to  market.  .-Xfter  a  while  the  service  became 
tri-weekly  and  Mr.  Gray  was  assisted  by  his  wife  who  for  the  lumber 
wagon  substituted  a  two-wheeled  cart  drawn  by  a  lively  "broncho." 
At  least  the  writer  can  testify  to  the  fact  that  the  animal  was  lively 
at  times  if  not  usually  so,  for  he  has  a  vivid  recollection  of  seeing  the 
Gray  "stage"  rounding  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Verdugo  Road 
upon  one  occasion  when  the  speed  and  a  too-sudden  turn  combined 
to  overcome  the  law  of  gravitation  and  the  cart  was  overturned  and 
the  lady  quite  suddenly  upset  in  the  road. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  215 

Mr.  C.  J.  Fox,  an  Englishman  who  had  accumulated  some  capital 
in  Los  Angeles  by  successfully  dealing  in  real  estate,  had  acquired 
considerable  land  along  both  sides  of  Broadway  from  the  Childs 
Tract  line  eastward  on  both  sides  of  the  street,  extending  almost  to 
the  present  limits  of  Eagle  Rock  city.  From  him  was  bought  the 
two  lots  on  which  the  schoolhouse  was  built,  in  1887,  and  from  him 
Mr.  J.  P.  Lukens  acquired  a  part  of  his  present  holdings  and  the 
portion  he  recently  sold  to  the  High  School  district.  In  1887  Mr. 
Fox  built  a  store  building  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Verdugo  Road  and  Mr.  ^Iayo  moved  into  that  building  with  the  post 
office.  He  conducted  a  store  there  until  1890  when  he  retired,  his 
mercantile  business  never  having  been  a  success. 

Miss  Rachel  M.  Sherer,  a  pioneer  of  1883,  bought  out  the  business 
of  Mr.  Mayo  and  conducted  the  store  for  a  year  or  two.  Mr.  J.  P. 
Lukens  was  appointed  postmaster,  in  1890,  and  continued  to  hold  that 
position  until  December  31,  1894.  During  this  time  Miss  Sherer 
performed  the  duties  of  postmistress  as  a  deputy  for  Mr.  Lukens. 
Mr.  Herman  Cohn  had  opened  a  store  on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Verdugo  Road  and  Sixth  (Colorado)  Street  and  to  this  location  the 
postoffice  was  transferred  and  Mr.  Cohn  appointed  postmaster.  Mr. 
Cohn  after  two  or  three  years  sold  his  business  to  a  Mr.  Hueston, 
who  became  postmaster.  After  him  came  Mr.  J.  C.  Campbell,  who 
conducted  the  store  and  was  the  last  postmaster  at  Verdugo,  as  the 
office  was  discontinued  January  1,  1903,  as  the  post  office  had  been 
established  in  Glendale  on  the  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue  and  Third 
(Wilson)  Street  and,  principally  through  the  efforts  of  Eagle  Rock 
citizens,  a  rural  route  had  been  established  with  delivery  from  Gar- 
vanza.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  first  rural  delivery  route  in  the 
county  as  it  bears  the  official  designation  of  "Rural  Free  Delivery 
Route,  No.  1,  Los  Angeles,  California."  That  portion  of  Glendale 
east  of  Adams  street  and  south  of  Broadway  was  dependent  upon 
this  rural  service  until  1920,  when  free  delivery  was  given  from  the 
Glendale  post  office. 

The  second  post  office  in  the  valley  was  established  on  Glendale 
Avenue  near  the  site  of  the  G.  A.  R.  Hall,  in  the  general  store  of  A. 
S.  Hollingsworth,  who  was  the  first  postmaster,  in  1886  and  was 
officially  designated  "Mason,"  until  changed  five  years  later. 

The  story  of  what  one  woman  accomplished,  fits  well  just  here. 
The  people  were  not  pleased  with  the  name  "Mason"  for  their  post 
office,  preferring  the  name  "Glendale,"  but  the  authorities  of  the 
post  office  department  at  Washington  (this  was  under  the  Cleveland 
administration)  refused  to  accept  the  name  "Glendale,"  and  it  was 
therefore,  designated  "Mason"  for  reasons  known  to  the  department 
only. 

On  March  4,  189L  President  McKinley  was  inaugurated  and  John 
Wanamaker  was  appointed  Postmaster  General.  Mrs.  E.  T.  Byram 
(still  living  in  1922)  residing  on  Glendale  Avenue  in  the  house  she 
still  occujiies,  read  the  newspapers  and  kept  abreast  of  the  times.  She 
noted  the  fact  that  Mr.  Wanamaker  was  to  visit  the  Pacific  Coast  and 
was  to  be  in  Los  Angeles  soon  after  his  appointment. 


216  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

In  April,  1891,  he  arrived  and  was  properly  entertained  and  took 
occasion  to  say  the  usual  complimentary  things  about  Southern  Cal- 
ifornia, with  the  customary  assurances  that  he  intended  to  do  every- 
thing that  was  possible  to  give  the  people  good  service  as  far  as  his 
department  was  concerned.  Taking  this  speech  for  her  text,  Mrs. 
Byram  was  inspired  to  write  to  him  immediately  after  its  publication 
and  call  his  attention  to  the  trouble  caused  by  the  name  inflicted  upon 
the  Glendale  people.  Her  letter  stated  that  the  people  refused  to 
accept  the  name,  and  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  most  of  the  mail 
coming  to  the  place  was  addressed  "Glendale"  and  arrived  at  its 
proper  destination.  This  letter  was  dated  April  28,  1891.  The  follow- 
ing replies  show  that  "red  tape"  can  sometimes  be  cut  expeditiously, 
even  in  the  postoffice  department  at  the  nation's  capital. 

San  Francisco,  May  2,  1921. 
Mrs.  H.  M.  Byram  : 

I  thank  you  for  your  very  kind  letter  of  the  28th  of  April  and 
as  the  matter  of  changing  the  name  will  have  to  be  investigated  at 
Washington  I  refer  your  letter  to  the  First  Assistant  Postmaster 
General  who  is  acting  Postmaster  General  in  my  absence.  In  case 
there  should  he  any  delay,  I  trust  you  will  write  me  again  on  my 
return  home. 

With  great  respect,  I  remain  yours  very  truly, 

J.  M.  Wanamaker. 

Washington,  May  11.  1891. 
Dear  Madame : 

Your  letter  of  April  twenty-eight  addressed  to  the  Postmaster 
General  has  been  forwarded  to  me  for  consideration  and  answer.  1 
note  what  you  say  in  reference  to  the  name  of  Mason  being  changed 
to  Glendale  and  also  your  reference  to  previous  order  of  the  Depart- 
ment declining  to  grant  you  the  name  of  Glendale  on  account  of  there 
being  an  office  of  same  name  in  Colorado.  The  rule  of  the  Depart- 
ment is  against  allowing  a  repetition  of  the  names  in  these  two  states 
on  account  of  a  similarity  of  the  abbreviation  of  the  names  of  the 
states.  I  shall,  however,  in  this  case  disregard  the  rule  and  have  this 
daj'  ordered  that  a  change  be  made,  and  as  soon  as  the  necessary 
papers  are  filled  out  and  your  postmaster  is  commissioned  under  the 
new  name,  your  office  will  be  known  as  Glendale. 

Yours  truly, 

S.    A.    WiNFIELD, 

First  Asst.  P.  M.  Gen. 
The  office  remained  in  that  location  for  a  little  over  a  year, 
when  it  was  removed  to  the  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue  and  Third 
(Wilson)  Street,  to  the  store  of  George  F.  Dutton  who  became  post- 
master. This  store  changed  ownership  frequently,  usually  with  a 
change  of  postmasters.  Following  Mr.  Dutton,  Mr.  Elias  Ayers 
succeeded  to  the  mercantile  business  and  became  postmaster.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Mrs.  Mabel  Hackman  (Mrs.  Mabel  Tight),  who  con- 
ducted the  office  until  it  was  moved  to  the  little  concrete  building  on 
Glendale  Avenue,  midway  between  Wilson  and  Broadway,  which  was 
erected  by  Mr.  I'^lias  Ayers,  in  1906,  to  accommodate  the  office  after 


GLENDALE  AND  VICLNITY  217 

Mr.  Asa  Fanset  was  appointed  postmaster.  From  tliat  location  it  was 
removed  to  the  one  story  Isrick  building  on  Broadway,  owned  by  Mr. 
William  Anderson,  opposite  the  Sanitarium,  where  it  remained  until 
removed  to  Brand  Boulevard,  January,  1912.  In  1909  the  office  be- 
came attached  to  Los  Angeles  office,  by  which  change  Glendale 
obtained  the  advantage  of  a  free  delivery  system,  but  in  postal  affairs 
became  merely  a  branch  of  the  Los  Angeles  office  until  1922,  when  it 
was  again  established  as  an  independent  office  and  Captain  D.  Ripley 
Jackson  made  postmaster. 

The  removal  of  the  post  office  from  its  location  on  south  Glen- 
dale Avenue  to  Third  and  Glendale  resulted  in  a  successful  effort  to 
get  a  post  office  at  Tropico,  that  being  established  in  1888.  Mr.  Aaron 
Wolfe  being  the  first  ])ostmaster.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Clark 
Gilbert.  Mr.  Gilbert  remained  in  business  only  a  few  months  and 
soon  afterwards  left  Tropico  to  make  his  home  in  .'\naheim.  Mr. 
George  Boyer  was  then  made  postmaster,  serving  only  a  short  time. 
Miss  Nettie  Jay  being  appointed  postmistress.  Miss  Jay  afterwards 
became  Mrs.  Yaw,  marrying  a  brother  of  the  singer,  and  has  since 
been  connected  for  a  portion  of  the  time  with  the  sheriff's  office  in 
Los  Angeles.  Mr.  Boyer  sold  his  business  to  Shuler  Brothers  and  the 
latter  sold  to  a  Mr.  Cristler.  but  Miss  Jay  retained  the  post  office 
until  December,  1898,  when  Mrs.  Wesley  H.  Bullis  was  appointed 
postmistress,  retaining  the  position  until  1911.  when  the  post  office 
was  merged  into  that  of  Los  .Angeles. 


CHAPTER  XV 

IMPROVEMENT  ASSOCIATIONS.  CHAMBERS  OF 
COMMERCE,  ETC. 

From  the  very  beginning,  which  means  the  period  of  development 
beginning  in  1882.  the  people  of  the  valley  now  comprised  within  the 
limits  of  Glendale.  showed  their  appreciation  of  the  capabilities  of 
the  public  meeting  and  the  get-together  assemblies  in  the  upbuilding 
of  the  community.  The  first  meeting  of  this  kind  that  we  have  any 
record  of  is  that  spoken  of  by  Mr.  G.  D.  Rowland,  in  a  letter  to  the 
editor,  in  which  he  says  : 

"The  second  year  (1884)  I  lived  with  Major  Mitchell's  family. 
Their  home  was  where  the  cemetery  is  now.  Owing  to  sickness  in 
the  family  I  had  to  make  a  change  and  spent  the  balance  of  the  year 
at  Mr.  Richardson's. 

"While  I  was  at  Major  Mitchell's  a  meeting  of  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  valley  was  called  to  select  a  name  for  the  place.  They  met  one 
evening  at  the  schoolhouse  and  filled  it  full.  I  was  honored  by  being 
made  chairman.  Several  names  were  suggested  and  it  was  decided 
to  hold  a  second  meeting.  Mr.  Hollenbeck  from  Verdugo  Road  was 
there,  being  possibly  the  oldest  one  present.  He  suggested  that  even 
in  that  delightful  valley  one  could  not  live  always,  and  it  would  be 
well  to  select  a  committee  to  consider  the  acquiring  of  a  location  for 
a  cemetery.  At  the  adjourned  meeting  the  name  'Glendale'  was 
selected." 

Aside  from  the  selection  of  the  name  of  Glendale,  two  things 
stand  out  in  the  above  worthy  of  note.  One  is  that  this  meeting  was 
held  in  the  territory  that  afterwards  became  "Tropico"  and  whose 
people  for  many  years  refused  to  accept  the  Glendale  nomenclature. 
The  other  is  the  fact  that  a  son  of  the  Mr.  Hollenbeck  alluded  to,  in 
after  years  became  the  principal  owner  of  Grand  View  cemetery. 

Improvement  Association  of  1886 

This  was  really  the  first  of  these  associations  which  have  played 
such  an  important  part  in  Glendale's  upbuilding.  In  writing  this 
history  frequent  references  have  been  made  to  its  work.  It  was  organ- 
ized August  30,  1886,  by  the  "Citizens  of  Glendale,  Verdugo  and 
Sepulveda."  The  meeting  adjourned  subject  to  call  of  the  chairman. 
On  September  twenty-seventh  a  permanent  organization  was  effected: 
Mr.  E.  T.  Byram,  President;  I.  N.  Clippinger,  Vice-President;  H.  N. 
Jarvis,  Treasurer;  J.  C.  Sherer,  Secretary.  The  following  members 
were  enrolled;  L.  W.  Riley,  H.  N.  Jarvis,  B.  F.  Patterson,  J.  D. 
Lindgren,  A.  S.  HoUingsworth,  E.  T.  Byram,  I.  M.  Clippinger,  H. 
H.   Rubens,  W.  C.   B.  Richardson,  A.  A.  Wolf.  H.  J.  Crow,  J.   D. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  219 

BulHs,  S.  A.  Ayres.  C.  S.  Gilbert,  J.  F.  Diinsmoore.  Later  appear 
the  names  of  Mayo,  Buckingham.  Williams.  Watson,  Dutton. 
Wheeler,  Moore,  Davenport  and  Banker. 

The  last  meeting  appears  to  have  been  held  on  .\pril  2,  1888. 
The  railroad  (Salt  Lake)  had  been  built  and  apparently  the  associa- 
tion felt  that  it  was  entitled  to  a  vacation,  as  adjournment  was  had, 
"sine  die." 

Improvement  Association  of  1902-06 

This  was  the  association  having  the  longest  life  of  the  many  that 
have  existed  from  time  to  time  in  the  valley,  until  the  present 
Chamber  of  Commerce  came  into  being.  It  was  organized  May  21. 
1902.  when  about  twenty  of  the  residents  of  Glendale  met  on  the 
above  date  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  proposition  of  organiz- 
ing an  Improvement  Association.  Dr.  D.  W'.  Hunt  was  made  presi- 
dent and  Mr.  E.  D.  Goode,  secretary.  Mr.  Goode  resigned  and  was 
succeeded  August  twenty-sixth  by  Mrs.  E.  W.  Pack  as  secretary. 
Mrs.  Pack  served  until  September  23,  1902,  when  Mr.  W.  Prosser 
Penn  became  secretary.  He  served  until  January.  1904,  when  Mrs. 
Lillian  Wells  assumed  the  duties  of  the  position.  Mrs.  Wells  resigned 
in  December.  1904,  and  Mr.  G.  B.  Woodberry  became  secretary, 
holding  the  position  until  January.  1906,  when  he  retired  and  Mr.  R. 
A.  Blackburn  became  secretary,  serving  until  the  association  dis- 
banded in  the  latter  part  of  February,  1906.  having  a  fine  record  of 
achievement  to  its  credit;  the  principal  items  being  the  building  of 
the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  and  the  incorporation  of  the  City  of 
Glendale.  In  Januar\',  1904,  Mr.  Edgar  Leavitt  succeeded  Dr.  Hunt 
as  chairman.  Mr.  Leavitt  was  successfully  active  in  arranging  for 
several  get-together  meetings  in  which  old  and  new  settlers  mingled 
to  the  advantage  of  the  growing  community. 

Tropico    Improvement   Associ.xtion 

W'hile  the  Glendale  association  was  at  work,  the  Tropico  Im- 
provement Association  was  also  functioning,  and  in  the  work  of  pro- 
moting the  Pacific  Electric  Railways'  building  into  the  valley  was 
acting  in  harmony  with  the  Glendale  committee  and  possibly  in  one 
or  two  particulars,  going  ahead  of  it.  This  especially  applies  to  the 
naming  of  Brand  Boulevard,  which  was  accomplished  as  follows : 

"At  a  stated  meeting  of  the  Tropico  Improvement  Association, 
Mrs.  David  W.  Imler  made  a  motion  that  was  duly  seconded  by  Mrs. 
Cora  Hickman,  that  the  new  boulevard  that  was  being  opened  in 
Tropico  and  Glendale  be  named  Brand  Boulevard  in  lieu  of  the  fact 
that  Mr.  L.  C.  Brand  had  been  so  vitally  interested  in  the  building  of 
the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  into  the  valley.  The  motion  was  unan- 
imously adopted  as  it  seemed  a  very  fitting  tribute  to  pay  Mr. 
Brand." 

It  has  been  mentioned  elsewhere  that  when  the  Glendale  associa- 
tion was  notified  of  this  action,  it  immediately  approved  and  adopted 
it.  There  is  not  much  of  a  written  record  of  the  doings  of  this  asso- 
ciation attainable,  but  it  was  organized  by  Mrs,  Samuel  Ayres,  at  her 


220  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

residence  on  Central  Avenue.  Mr.  David  H.  Imler  was  the  first 
president  and  Miss  Cora  Hickman  the  secretary,  serving  in  that 
capacity  four  years. 

In  reference  to  the  building  of  the  Pacific  Electric  road,  the 
important  part  played  by  members  of  this  organization  is  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  the  railroad  committee  on  securing  rights  of  way,  etc., 
held  the  most  of  its  meetings  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  D.  H.  Imler 
who  was  one  of  the  committee.  This  committee  met  at  least  once 
a  week  while  the  campaign  lasted,  and  sometimes  oftener.  Dr.  Hunt, 
the  chairman  of  the  joint  committee,  was  usually  present,  as  were 
the  following  members  of  the  Tropico  committee :  Otto  P.  Snyder, 
president  of  the  Tropico  association ;  David  H.  Imler,  M.  M.  Eshel- 
man,  Dwight  Griswold,  John  Hobbs,  C.  C.  Chandler,  H.  C.  Goodell, 
Joseph  A.  Kirkham.  Other  members  of  the  Glendale  association  also 
attending  were  R.  G.  Doyle  and  E.  D.  Goode. 

Glendale  Board  of  Trade 

This  organization  came  into  being  in  1896  or  1897  and  lasted 
only  a  few  months.  It  appears  to  have  left  no  record  of  its  activities 
except  a  sample  copy  of  a  folder  that  it  issued  calling  attention  to 
Glendale.  The  matter  in  the  folder  is  the  work  of  Prof.  E.  L. 
French,  principal  of  the  Broadway  school.  The  pamphlet  dwells  upon 
the  natural  advantage  of  the  section  described,  calls  attention  to  the 
fine  quality  of  the  fruit  produced  and  to  the  orchards  that  dot  the 
valley  here  and  there  and  emphasizes  the  quantity  and  purity  of  the 
water.  Evidently  this  organization  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  out  this  folder  and  having  accomplished  its  purpose  ceased 
to  exist;  as  was  the  way  of  many  of  the  similar  bodies  that  have 
existed  both  before  and  since  that  time  in  the  valley. 

The  Valley  Improvement  Association 

This  organization  came  into  being  about  1909.  Its  meetings  were 
held  usually  at  the  K.  of  P.  hall,  corner  of  Third  Street  and  Brand 
Boulevard.  Its  first  president  was  Mr.  J.  W.  Usilton  and  the  first 
secretary,  Mr.  E.  H.  Kerker.  It  was  a  vigorous  organization  and 
did  a  lot  of  good  work.  In  1910,  on  May  fourteenth,  it  was  respon- 
sible for  a  "May  Festival"  which  brought  to  Glendale  a  crowd  of 
visitors  who  were  well  entertained  by  the  citizens  who  made  a  holiday 
of  the  occasion.  The  vacant  lot  on  the  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue 
and  Fifth  Street  was  the  scene  in  the  afternoon  of  a  series  of  per- 
formances, part  of  the  program  being  carried  out  by  the  Vaquero 
Club  of  Los  Angeles,  consisting  of  feats  of  horsemanship.  This  was 
followed  by  a  ball  game  and  in  the  evening  at  the  "Grand  Stand"  at 
Broadway  and  Kenwood,  there  was  an  interesting  program,  features 
of  which  were  speeches  by  Hon.  Lee  C.  Gates  and  Col.  Tom  Thorn- 
ton, and  an  exhibition  of  Japanese  skill  in  a  broadsword  contest. 

A  similar  day's  entertainment  was  given  the  following  year, 
which  was  also  a  success.  This  organization  presented  to  the  city 
a  fine  stone  fountain  which  was  originally  located  on  Brand  Boule- 


Glcndalc's  Blue  Ribbon   Float  at   PasaiKna.  Jainuirv   1,   192o. 


GLENDALE  A\D  VICINITY  223 

vard,  but  had  to  be  removed  on  account  of  encroaching  business 
concerns  and  was  taken  to  the  Colorado  Street  school  where  it  is  now 
located.  At  the  same  time  a  Board  of  Trade  existed  on  the  east  side 
of  the  town,  of  which  Mr.  H.  P.  Cokcr  was  president  and  Mr.  G.  H. 
Barager,  secretarj-. 

First  Ch.xmber  of  Commerce 

The  first  regularly  organized  Chamber  of  Commerce  came  into 
being  about  1912.  meeting  in  the  Hurtt  building,  opposite  the  City 
Hall.  Dr.  L.  H.  Hurtt  was  the  first  president.  This  body  was  quite 
active  for  several  years.  In  March,  1913,  the  membership  was  run 
up  to  a  high  figure  by  a  contest  headed  by  two  teams  in  a  search  for 
members.  The  leader  of  one  team  was  Mr.  M.  P.  Harrison,  and  of 
the  other,  Mr.  T.  W.  Watson.  The  losing  team  gave  a  banquet  which 
was  something  of  an  event  in  those  comparatively  quiet  times.  At 
this  time  Mr.  A.  P.  Heacock  was  president  and  Mr.  W.  B.  Kirk,  secre- 
tary. Other  presidents  of  the  organization  were  Mr.  E.  U.  Emery 
and  Mr.  J.  N.  McGillis. 

The  Present  Ch.\mber  of  Commerce 

In  1921  Mr.  J.  O.  Stevenson  and  Mr.  Ben  Schouboa  were  secured 
to  come  to  Glendale  and  organize  a  Chamber  of  Commerce  upon  a 
permanent  basis.  Pledges  of  membership  were  secured  from  500 
Glendale  citizens,  at  a  yearly  membership  fee  of  $25.00,  which  assured 
a  good  financial  start  for  the  organization,  something  which  no  previ- 
ous body  of  the  kind  in  Glendale  ever  had. 

The  directors  of  the  Chamber  in  looking  around  for  a  secretary 
were  fortunate  in  securing  Mr.  James  M.  Rhoades,  who  had  been  suc- 
cessful elsewhere  in  managing  similar  bodies.  Mr.  Rhoades  took 
hold  of  the  work  with  enthusiasm  and  is  now  entering  upon  his  third 
year  in  this  position.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  an  assistant  was 
needed  to  look  after  memberships  particularly,  and  perform  other 
duties,  and  Mr.  E.  H.  Sanders  was  secured.  Fortunately  for  the 
Chamber  this  selection  was  also  a  good  one  and  the  membership  has 
been  kept  close  up  to  the  thousand  mark  and  the  loyal  support  given 
by  Glendale  people  enables  the  Chamber  to  be  of  great  service  to 
the  community. 

A  report  of  the  year's  activities  has  just  been  issued  by  the  Cham- 
ber, which  occupies  several  pages.  The  list  of  things  achieved 
touches  almost  every  field  of  community  activity,  from  securing  bet- 
ter railroad  facilities  and  establishing  new  business  concerns,  all 
down  the  line  to  the  promotion  of  bond  issues  for  the  schools.  Al- 
together the  record  is  a  great  one  and  proves  that  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  has  made  for  itself  too  large  a  place  in  the  forward-look- 
ing program  of  the  "fastest  growing  city,"  to  ever  be  permitted  to 
go  backward. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

LIBRARIES 

The  Glendale  Public  Library 

The  Glendale  Public  Library  will  forever  stand  as  a  memorial 
to  the  discriminating  intelligence  and  untiring  perseverance  of  the 
women  of  the  Tuesday  Afternoon  Club  of  Glendale,  who  inaugurated, 
fostered  and  supported  the  nucleus  of  the  same  the  first  eighteen 
months  of  its  existence,  when  the  end  desired  and  advocated,  was  at- 
tained and  a  public  library  was  established  by  city  ordinance. 

Preliminary  to  and  during  the  club  year  of  1904-05,  with  Mrs. 
Cora  S.  Taylor  as  president  of  the  club,  Mrs.  D.  W.  Hunt  as  chair- 
man of  the  committee,  arranged  for  a  course  of  lectures  to  raise 
money  to  found  the  proposed  library.  During  the  following  year 
with  Mrs.  R.  A.  Blackburn  as  president,  a  state  traveling  library 
from  Sacramento  was  procured,  with  the  following  board  who  were 
tax  payers  and  were  responsible  for  the  same:  Mrs.  Ella  Witham, 
president;  Mrs.  Lillian  S.  Wells,  secretary;  Mrs.  D.  W.  Hunt,  Mrs. 
F.  L.  Church.  Mrs.  David  Imler.  Later  the  board  was :  Mrs.  Ella  C. 
Witham,  president;  Mrs.  Lillian  S.  Wells,  secretary;  Mrs.  E.  D. 
Goode,  Mrs.  F.  L.  Church  and  Mrs.  R.  A.  Blackburn.  The  announce- 
ment of  the  opening  of  the  library  read  as  follows:  "The  traveling- 
library  has  been  placed  by  the  ladies  of  the  Tuesday  Afternoon  Club 
in  the  store  room  adjoining  Nelson's  Bakery,  on  D  Street  (now  Day- 
ton Court)  and  Third  Street  (now  Wilson  Avenue)  and  will  be  open 
from  fftur  to  six  P.  M.  daily." 

In  March  the  number  of  memberships  was  60;  the  rent,  $10.00 
per  month,  was  taken  care  of  by  the  business  men.  In  May,  1906, 
beside  the  state  traveling  library  of  50  volumes  the  club  owned  over 
70  books.  In  October.  1907,  the  City  Council  passed  an  ordinance 
creating  a  public  lilirary,  and  levied  a  tax  of  5j/  cents  on  one  hundred 
dollars  which  would  aggregate  about  five  hundred  dollars  for  the 
year,  and  the  Tuesday  Afternoon  Club  by  resolution  donated  all 
books,  and  furniture  to  the  Municipal  library. 

The  first  board  of  the  Glendale  Public  Library  was  composed  of 
the  following  persons:  E.  D.  Goode,  president;  Lillian  S.  Wells,  sec- 
retary; Ella  C.  Witham,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Blackburn,  Dr.  A.  L.  Bryant  and 
Mrs.  J.  C.  Danford,  librarian.  In  1910  steps  were  taken  to  procure  a 
Carnegie  library  building  for  Glendale,  but  it  was  not  until  1914 
that  the  new  building  was  completed  and  ready  for  occupancy.  The 
new  Carnegie  Library  building  was  dedicated  Friday,  November  13. 
1914,  the  library  trustees  at  that  time  being:  Dr.  A.  L.  Bryant,  jjresi- 
dent;  Mrs.  R.  A.  Blackburn,  secretary;  Mrs.  J.  II.  Braly,  J.  E.  Hen- 
derson, W.  W.  McElroy.  The  building  committee  was  O.  A.  Lane, 
city  trustee,  J.  E.  Henderson  and  W.  W.  McElroy  library  trustees; 
Paul  \^  Tuttle.  architect;  T.   H.  .Addison,  builder.     The  handsome 


Public   Lib: 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  227 

structure  stands  at  the  corner  of  Kenwood  and  Harvard  Streets. 
The  material  used  is  cream  brick  and  the  structure  is  one  story  high, 
with  basement  which  is  well  above  ground  giving  the  appearance  of  a 
two  story  building.  All  the  interior  finisii  is  of  quarter  oak  with  the 
furniture  of  the  same  wood.  The  walls  and  ceilings  are  in  leather 
effect  in  soft  tones  of  brown;  stained  glass  windows  add  to  the 
charm. 

The  growth  of  the  library  has  been  phenomenal,  from  the  time 
when  the  report  shows  "o\er  70  books  in  library."  to  the  present  time 
when  the  number  of  volumes  is  26,000  and  the  circulation  16,000  in 
the  main  and  branch  library;  the  latter  in  the  Tropico  district.  For 
the  first  few  months  the  work  was  cared  for  by  volunteer  librarians, 
Mrs.  J.  H.  \\'ells  and  son  James  H.  Wells,  Jr.  and  Mrs.  R.  A.  Black- 
burn, serving.  They  were  followed  by  Miss  Mable  Patterson,  acting 
for  six  weeks.  Mrs.  J.  C.  Danford  was  elected  librarian  of  the  club 
library  and  was  the  first  librarian  of  the  Glendale  Public  Library, 
which  position  she  still  holds,  her  untiring  efforts,  executive  ability, 
and  rare  tact  and  sympathy  have  contributed  largely  to  the  efficiency 
of  the  library. 

The  trustees  of  the  library  at  present  are  the  following:  Olin 
Spencer,  president;  T.  W.  Preston,  Mrs.  Genivive  H.  (joss,  Mrs.  .'\bbie 
P.  Barker  and  Mrs.  Flora  M.  Temple,  secretary,  .\mong  those  who 
have  been  trustees  at  various  times  since  the  library  was  established, 
may  be  mentioned.  Mrs.  John  Hyde  Bralv,  Mr.  f.  E.  Henderson,  Mrs. 
F.  McGee  Kelley,  Mr.  W.  J.  Hibbert,  Mrs.  lluella  M.  Bullis,  Mr. 
Dwight  VV.  Stevenson. 

TlIlC  TroI'ICO  LlliRAKV 

The  nucleus  of  the  Glendale  Public  Library  branch  at  the  corner 
of  Los  Feliz  Road  and  Brand  Boulevard,  Mr.  C.  H.  Gushing,  libra- 
rian, was  the  Tropico  Library  which  had  its  inception  in  the  latter 
part  of  1906.  .A.t  a  meeting  of  the  Tuesday  .Afternoon  Club  held  Jan- 
uary 17,  1907,  Miss  Cora  Hickman  brought  the  subject  to  the  atteu; 
tion  of  the  club.  Miss  Hickman  was  appointed  a  committee  to  secure 
a  section  of  the  free  state  library  at  Sacramento,  which  at  that  time 
was  furnishing  "Traveling  Libraries"  to  applicants.  The  application 
was  granted  and  in  a  short  time  a  consignment  of  fifty  books  was 
received. 

The  first  Library  Board  consisted  of  Mrs.  D.  B.  Imler,  Mrs.  W.  A. 
Thompson  and  Miss  Cora  Hickman.  Quarters  were  secured  in 
Logan's  Hall,  over  the  store  at  the  corner  of  San  Fernando  Road 
and  Central  Avenue,  and  the  room  was  kept  open  three  half  days  in 
the  week.  Miss  Hickman  assumed  charge,  she  and  other  ladies  giv- 
ing their  services  free  in  attendance.  Miss  Harriet  Myers  succeeded 
Miss  Hickman,  also  donating  her  services,  after  the  latter  had  served 
for  fourteen  months.  Meanwhile  the  city  of  Trojjico  had  been  in- 
corporated and  in  May,  1912,  took  over  the  library,  the  club  donat- 
ing to  the  city  the  property  acquired.  The  first  directors  under  city 
control  were  Mr.  C.  Carmack.  Mrs.  Hal.  Davenport,  Mrs.  J.  A.  Logan, 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Webster,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Bullis.  Mr.  C.  H.  Cushman  was 
appointed  librarian  which  position  he  has  since  retained. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  TELEPHONE  IN  GLENDALE 

The  story  of  the  telephone  in  Glendale,  like  the  story  of  every 
other  public  utility,  reads  like  a  fairy  tale  in  respect  to  its  marvelous 
growth.  The  Home  Company  was  the  pioneer.  That  company  put 
up  a  small  building  on  Broadway  just  west  of  Central  Avenue,  which 
stood  out  conspicuously  with  a  lonesomeness  that  was  noticeable  and 
caused  the  passer-by  to  wonder  what  it  was.  This  was  in  August, 
1904.  There  were  probably  a  half  dozen  telephones  in  use  in  the 
valley  before  the  exchange  was  established.  The  three  physicians 
of  the  settlement,  Drs.  D.  W.  Hunt,  A.  L.  Bryant  and  R.  E.  Chase 
had  them  installed,  and  there  was  one  in  the  store  at  Tropico  and 
in  the  other  store  on  the  corner  of  Wilson  and  Glendale  Avenues. 

When  \\'oods  Hotel  Building  was  constructed  on  Brand  Boule- 
vard, about  1904,  the  Home  Company  moved  into  a  back  room  on 
the  second  story  and  was  thought  to  have  quite  commodious  ac- 
commodations. By  that  time  the  company  had  been  acquired  by 
Mr.  L.  C.  Brand,  who  obtained  control  of  the  system  embracing  Cres- 
centa,  La  Canada,  Burbank  and  Lankershim  (then  known  as  To- 
lucca).  Mr.  Brand  sold  the  lines  to  a  Mr.  Bartel  about  two  years  be- 
fore the  consolidation  occurred. 

The  Sunset  I'elephone  Company,  known  now  as  the  Pacific  Tele- 
phone and  Telegraph  Co.,  came  to  Glendale  in  June,  1906,  starting 
operations  with  sixty  subscribers  located  in  Glendale,  Tropico  and 
Burbank.  The  first  office  was  located  in  the  rear  of  a  drug  store  in 
the  Watson  building,  corner  of  Broadway  and  Glendale  Avenue. 
Starting  with  one  operator,  the  business  rapidly  increased  until  by 
the  end  of  the  year  there  were  six  employes.  In  1918  occurred  the 
consolidation  of  the  two  companies,  the  "Home"  disappearing  in  the 
consolidation. 

At  this  time  (January.  1923),  the  number  of  telephones  in  the 
Glendale  office,  4.161.  In  1912,  fifty  stations  were  "taken  on"  in 
Sunland,  the  company  opening  there.  In  1915,  Burbank  was  cut  in 
with  120  telephones  and  an  office  opened  there.  Glendale  is  now 
headquarters  in  the  San  Fernando  valley,  also  in  Antelope  valley,  for 
all  telephones. 

Formerly  the  telephones  in  Glassell  Park  and  .Atwater  district 
were  in  Glendale  control,  but  are  now  "cut  in"  to  Los  Angeles.  Mr. 
Fred  Deal  was  manager  in  the  beginning  and  still  remains  in  that 
position.  In  contrast  with  the  six  employes  the  first  year,  the  total 
force  employed  in  the  Glendale  office  now  is  seventy-seven.  The 
company's  faith  in  Glendale  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  it  has  built 
here  a  three  story  building,  in  every  way  up  to  date  and  constructed 
with  a  view  of  meeting  the  requirements  of  the  fastest  growing 
city  in  America ! 


Home   Tckphonc   Company's   Office 
of  tlie    Past. 


I'acitic  TeUplioiH'  &   Tek'niapli    Building. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

SANITARIUMS  AND  HOSPITALS 

While  boasting  of  a  climate  that  is  in  itself  life-giving,  there  are 
ills  that  even  a  genial  climate  cannot  cure,  and  as  long  as  humanity 
continues  to  fall  heir  to  them,  the  sick  and  the  unfortunate  victims 
of  bodily  misfortunes  generall}-.  must  be  cared  for  by  those  trained 
in  this  blessed  service,  and  institutions  must  be  provided  where  the 
healing  forces  of  nature  may  be  aided  by  such  treatment  as  the  long 
experience  of  mankind  may  suggest  and  the  latest  discoveries  of 
science  may  be  applied. 

Glendale  Sanitarium 

This  has  been  a  Glendale  institution  ever  since  1905,  when  the 
Battle  Creek  people  bought  the  Glendale  Hotel  property  on  Broad- 
waj'  and  established  a  sanitarium  founded  on  the  principles  and  prac- 
tices of  the  parent  institution  at  Battle  Creek,  Michigan.  The  Glen- 
dale Sanitarium  has  not  only  been  very  successful  as  a  place  where 
the  physically  afflicted  have  been  successfully  treated,  but  in  the  years 
in  which  Glendale  was  sorely  in  need  of  a  Hotel  furnishing  accommo- 
dations amid  quiet  surroundings,  this  sanitarium  to  quite  a  consid- 
erable extent  furnished  a  temporary  home  for  numbers  of  tourists 
who  could  not  find,  elsewhere  in  the  community,  the  home  accommo- 
dations that  they  desired.  From  which  statement  it  appears  that  the 
patrons  of  this  establishment  have  not  always  remained  there  for  the 
treatment  of  their  physical  ills,  but  often  made  it  their  temporary 
home  while  looking  around  for  a  place  in  which  to  establish  for  them- 
selves a  dwelling  place  in  Southern  California,  and  not  infrequently 
choosing  to  remain  in  Glendale.  It  has  also  upon  many  occasions 
been  thrown  open  to  the  Glendale  public  for  meetings  of  various 
kinds,  requiring  facilities  for  entertainment  which  no  other  place  in  the 
city  could  supply.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  has  used  its  spacious 
dining  room  for  more  than  one  delightful  banquet;  political  candi- 
dates have  received  the  public  there ;  and  various  organizations  have 
been  permitted  to  hold  assemblies  there  on  special  occasions.  From 
which  it  will  be  apparent  that  the  Glendale  Sanitarium  has  filled  a 
unique  place  in  the  life  of  Glendale  and  its  rapid  e.xpansion  in  recent 
years,  widely  advertised  as  it  has  been,  has  been  an  important  factor 
in  making  Glendale  known  to  the  outside  world. 

The  hospital  features  of  the  institution  have  been  amplified  dur- 
ing the  past  two  or  three  years,  new  buildings  being  erected  and 
modern  features  added  that  have  rendered  its  equipment  in  that  line, 
equal  to  the  best  to  be  found  in  the  larger  cities. 


232  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

The  institution  is  owned  and  controlled,  as  it  has  been  since  its 
establishment,  by  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists,  the  manager  for  the 
past  several  years  lieing  Mr.  C.  E.  Kimlin.  About  a  3-ear  ago,  a  new 
site  was  purchased  on  the  hillside  east  of  Verdugo  Road  and  north 
of  Wilson  Avenue,  which  aflfords  a  magnificent  outlook  over  the  val- 
ley. This  site  consists  of  twenty-eight  acres  of  land  upon  which  is 
now  being  constructed  a  magnificent  building  over  four  hundred  feet 
in  length,  to  be  equipped  with  special  features  for  the  treatment  of 
patients  in  accordance  with  the  methods  in  vogue  in  these  sanitariums 
in  various  places  throughout  the  United  States,  and  nowhere  will 
such  equipment  excel  that  of  the  Glendale  plant,  nor  the  surround- 
ings be  so  nearly  ideal.  The  cost  of  the  improvements  that  have 
been  begun  will  reach  half  a  million  dollars,  with  anticipated  pos- 
sibilities for  expansion  that  will  in  time  far  exceed  this  sum. 

Thorn YCROFT  Farm 

In  December.  1908,  Mrs.  Nan  Maxwell  Miller  acquired  six  acres 
on  Ninth  Street  (now  Windsor  Road),  Glendale,  and  established  a 
"Rest  Home."  There  was  an  ordinary  two  story  comfortable  house 
on  the  property  with  very  limited  accommodations  for  patrons  of  the 
institution,  and  Mrs.  Miller  at  once  commenced  on  a  program  of  cot- 
tage building,  which  has  continued  up  almost  to  the  present.  In 
the  beginning  the  cottages  were  really  nothing  more  than  very  com- 
fortable tents  with  floors  and  other  conveniences  not  usually  found  in 
a  tent;  but  by  a  process  of  evolution  these  structures  have  become 
home-like  cottages  for  the  accommodation  of  one  or  two  persons, 
additions  and  changes  dictated  by  experience  being  made  from  time 
to  time  so  that  every  cottage  at  present  is  furnished  with  the  most  of 
the  comforts  of  home,  while  a  new  building  complete  in  all  the  re- 
quirements of  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  designed,  has  taken  the 
l)lace  of  the  original  structure.  In  this  building  are  the  administra- 
tive offices,  dining  room,  parlors  and  a  few  rooms  for  special  guests. 

In  1913,  Mrs.  Miller  added  to  the  equi])ment  of  Thornycroft 
Farm,  a  general  hospital,  modern  and  fully  equipped  with  surgical 
department,  wards  for  the  sick,  and  all  the  appliances  necessary  in 
an  up-to-date  institution  of  the  kind.  The  ideal  location  and  accom- 
modations such  as  they  required,  secured  at  Thornycroft  a  tempo- 
rary home  for  over  sixty  of  the  government's  ex-service  men,  disabled 
in  the  great  war,  who  came  to  this  place  in  1920.  They  remained 
here  until  1922,  and  during  their  stay  Mrs.  Miller,  and  the  people  of 
Glendale,  also  exerted  themselves  to  make  the  time  pass  pleasantly 
for  the  unfortunates  who  had  sacrificed  so  much  for  their  country. 

The  hospital  at  Thornycroft  no  longer  caters  to  surgical  cases, 
but  in  other  respects  serves  for  general  hospital  purposes.  At  present 
a  specialty  is  being  made  of  rheumatic  cases,  Mrs.  Miller  having  se- 
cured a  formula  for  the  treatment  of  persons  afflicted  with  this  pain- 
ful disease,  which,  it  is  claimed,  has  accomplished  marvelous  re- 
sults. Recently  three  acres  of  the  original  six  constituting  Thorny- 
croft Farm,  was  sold,  leaving  the  improved  portion  intact  for  the 
continuance  of  the  work  for  which  it  is  designed. 


Thornvcrott. 


The  Ciolden   West  Saiiitarivini. 


ArliDi     l\r>l    llome. 


'fW 


* 


.^■ 


'4^ 

fee. 


.^  T,;^->i|fl#-r-Trr>«^-^c>:^5w«"--"_=^ 


*1= 


"3i  3i''ia3J'-'!lSu'  ;  .r-i  I 


■i*^. 


k:ic)  f  fiiuf 


\  HniMTH 


The   Gleiidale   Saiiitariuin   and    Hosiiital    to   be    Constructed    in    1M2,?. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  235 

Arbor  Rest   Home 

This  resort  on  East  Lexington  Avenue  has  been  built  up  from 
a  small  besjinning  by  Mr.  S.  E.  and  Mrs.  Daisy  D.  Grant  who  started 
it  in  1912.  In  the  beginning  the  "plant"  consisted  of  an  ordinary  city 
lot  and  a  six  room  house.  The  present  day  accommodations  are  dis- 
tributed over  three  lots  and  a  series  of  buildings  having  thirty-three 
rooms.  Mrs.  Grant,  herself  a  trained  nurse,  now  has  four  others  as- 
sisting her.  The  buildings  are  surrounded  by  a  great  many  fruit  and 
ornamental  trees,  among  the  former  being  several  avocado  trees  that 
for  a  dozen  years  have  been  demonstrating  the  fact  that  they  are 
located  in  Glendale's  "frostless  belt." 

Arbor  Rest  has  recently  become  almost  exclusively  a  home  for 
the  aged,  the  majority  of  its  patrons  belonging  to  that  class  of  peo- 
ple, who  sufTering  from  the  infirmities  of  age.  desire  to  secure  the 
care  and  comforts  of  a  home  in  a  place  w-here  the  invigorating  effects 
of  fresh  air  and  sunshine  are  appreciated  and  attainable. 

Research  Hospital 

This  is  strictly  a  Glendale  institution  with  over  two  hundred  sub- 
scribers to  its  capital  stock.  The  organization  was  perfected  in 
1920,  and  the  hospital  opened  for  service  on  May  eighth  of  that  year. 
The  buildings  are  located  on  a  plot  of  ground  composed  of  six  lots  in 
Piedmont  Park,  near  Lexington  Avenue  and  Adams  Street. 

The  original  investment  \vas  $100,000  but  with  the  additional  im- 
provements and  equipment  since  added,  represents  the  sum  of  $140,- 
000.  The  location  is  ideal,  being  at  an  elevation  overlooking  the  city 
with  nothing  to  detract  from  the  naturally  prime  requisites  of  an  insti- 
tution of  this  character.  It  is  the  object  of  the  hospital  to  supply  the 
best  of  medical  care  with  all  the  equipment  for  surgical  work  which 
is  consistent  with  the  latest  discoveries  of  science,  including  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course  a  complete  "X-Ray"  outfit.  The  culinary  department 
is  separated  from  the  main  building  which  contains  thirty-eight  beds. 
There  is  ample  space  for  additional  buildings  which  will  be  erected 
from  time  to  time  as  necessity  demands.  Although  so  recently  estab- 
lished the  hospital  has  been  a  success  from  the  opening  day  and  prom- 
ises a  development  that  will  keep  it  in  the  first  rank  of  similar  insti- 
tutions in  the  rapidly  growing  city  in  which  it  is  located. 

The  Board  of  Directors  consists  of  the  following  local  men : 
Harry  L.  Hall,  president;  A.  L.  Baird,  secretary;  Dr.  T.  C.  Young, 
R.  M.  Brown  and  Roy  L.  Kent. 

Mission  Rest  Home 

Situated  on  San  Fernando  Road  near  Park  Avenue.  These  hand- 
some Mission  style  buildings  were  erected  in  1914  for  a  hospital  by 
Dr.  Rockwell,  who  did  not  make  the  venture  a  success.  In  August, 
1917,  Mrs.  M.  P.  Moberly  leased  the  property  with  a  buying  option 
which  she  availed  herself  of  a  year  later.  The  hospital  is  surrounded 
by  over  five  acres  of  ground.  Mrs.  Moberly  has  improved  the  build- 
ings by  the  construction  of  sky  lights  and  other  features  which  have 


236  GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY 

added  greatl)'  to  the  cheerfulness  and  homelike  atmosphere.  The 
main  building  is  complete  in  all  details,  the  basement  containing 
kitchen,  laundry  room,  store  rooms  and  a  gas  heating  furnace  from 
which  connection  is  made  to  every  room  in  the  building.  The  hos- 
pital features  have  been  abandoned  by  Mrs.  Moberly  and  the  insti- 
tution is  now  used  entirely  as  a  home  for  the  aged.  It  contains  forty- 
two  ro(jms,  all  of  which  are  connected  with  bath  rooms,  well  lighted 
and  comfortable  in  ever)-  respect.  The  rooms  are  all  filled  at  pres- 
ent and  the  accommodations  have  been  in  use  to  the  extent  of  their 
capacity  for  the  past  several  months. 

Mrs.  Mol^erly  is  a  trained  nurse  and  is  enjoying  the  ambition  of 
a  lifetime  in  providing  a  home  for  aged  people  in  surroundings  which 
furnish  them  with  the  comforts  of  life  and  the  care  and  attention 
which  their  individual  cases  require. 

Golden  West  S.\nit.\rilm 

Five  years  ago  Mrs.  Allie  Taylor  Anderson  came  to  Glendale,  oc- 
cupying a  small  cottage  on  Harvard  Street  west  of  Verdugo  Road. 
In  these  limited  quarters  she  foimd  accommodations  for  two  or 
three  invalids  to  whom  she  gave  her  personal  services.  She  had  ac- 
quired a  nurse's  training  in  a  Catholic  institution  in  her  native  state, 
Texas,  and  her  experience  in  the  cottage  on  Harvard  Street  demon- 
strated to  her  satisfaction  that  she  could  succeed  in  larger  quarters. 
She  secured  the  two  story  home  on  California  Street,  number  1125 
East,  and  has  built  up  a  business  that  taxes  the  capacity  of  the  build- 
ing which  is  now  accommodating  twenty-six  patients.  Both  rest 
cure  and  medical  cases  are  accepted  and  it  will  soon  be  necessary  to 
enlarge  the  capacity  of  the  institution  or  move  to  another  location. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

PATRIOTIC  ORGANIZATIONS 

Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 

The  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  N.  P.  Banks  Post,  was  organ- 
ized September,  1894,  in  Ayers  hall  with  twenty-one  charter  members 
as  follows:  T.  D.  Kanouse,  P>.  F.  Patterson,  Robt.  Taylor,  Uriah 
Thomas,  W,  B.  Pratt,  Moses  Black  (a  colored  man),  A.  B.  Hapgood, 
George  Cornwell,  Ruel  Dodd  (Presbyterian  minister).  George  Vance, 
E.  L.  French,  Thos.  Gillette.  James  Field.  R.  M.  Sherman.  Geo.  W. 
Sanford,  J.  J.  Glover,  W.  G.  Watson,  John  Hodgson,  N.  F.  Reynolds, 
Chas.  McCarty  and  J.  \V.  Dye.  At  one  time  the  Post  had  nearly  100 
members. 

Of  the  charter  members,  four  are  living:  Rol>ert  M.  Taylor,  (leo. 
W.  Sanford.  Theodore  D.  Kanouse  and  George  Cornwell.  Of  these 
Theodore  D.  Kanouse  was  the  first  Commander.  Geo.  \V.  Sanford  the 
first  Adjutant. 

The  present  G.  A.  R.  hall  at  902  South  Glendale  Avenue  was  hiuh 
in  1891-2  by  the  Good  Templars,  later  was  purchased  by  Chas.  W. 
Winne.  who  deeded  the  property  to  the  W.  R.  C.  and  Mrs.  Cora  Hick- 
man Sterns  was  made  life  trustee  of  same,  the  building  to  be  held  by 
them  in  trust  for  the  G.  A.  R. 

The  old  hall  has  been  the  scene  of  many  hap])y  times.  Several 
of  the  Veterans  and  their  wives  celebrated  their  golden  weddings  at 
the  hall.  Notably  the  donor,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  W.  Winne.  Nu- 
merous improvements  have  been  made  from  time  to  time. 

The  N.  P.  Banks  Post  numbered  at  one  time  110.  The  [)rescnt 
membership  is  75. 

Its  meeting  dates  are  the  second  and  fourth  Fridays  of  each 
month  at  10:30  o'clock.  Each  fourth  Friday,  luncheon  is  served  to  the 
Veterans  1)\'  the  Woman's  Relief  Corps. 

Officers  for  1923  are:  C.  M.  Barrett,  commander;  T.  C.  Fuller. 
vice  commander;  G.  A.  Robertson,  quartermaster;  G.  W'.  Sanford, 
assistant  quartermaster;  R.  N.  Taylor,  officer  of  the  day;  C.  H.  Clark, 
adjutant;  W.  M.  Collins,  assistant  adjutant;  C.  R.  Norton,  chaplain. 

Mr.  Taylor  has  held  the  office  of  officer  of  the  day  for  twenty- 
five  years,  having  held  it  several  years  elsewhere  before  coming  here. 
Mr.  Norton  has  been  installed  chai)lain  fourteen  times. 

Women's  Relief  Corps 

This  patriotic  society  was  organized  by  the  women  of  Tropico. 
January  13.  1898,  as  an  auxiliary  of  the  G.  A.  R.  The  organization 
was  made  by  Mrs.  May  Hartwell,  Post  deputy  commander,  on  the 
above  date.     The  original  "crew"  consisted  of  the  following:     Mrs. 


238  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Morella  Pratt,  Mrs.  Mary  Gillette,  Mrs.  Clara  Gulvin,  Mrs.  Adelaide 
H.  Imler,  Miss  Cora  Hickman,  Mrs.  Luella  M.  Bullis,  Mrs.  Tessie 
Stine,  Mrs.  Martha  Myers,  Mrs.  Mary  Patterson,  Mrs.  Hattie  Field, 
Mrs.  Isabella  Mcjore,  Mrs.  Martha  Winne,  Mrs.  Miranda  Crist,  Mrs. 
Alice  Watson,  Mrs.  Clara  Iman.  In  1914  the  members  numbered  over 
100.  The  organization  owns  its  own  hall,  which  is  also  the  meeting 
place  of  the  G.  .\.  R.  and  the  two  organizations  work  together  almost 
as  a  imit. 

Sons  of  Veterans 

This  is  another  patriotic  society,  an  auxiliary  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  also 
originating  in  Tropico.  It  was  mustered  in  as  Camp  22,  November 
15,  1913,  at  G.  A.  R.  hall.  The  following  were  the  first  officers  of  the 
organization:  First  officer,  J.  V.  Griffin;  commander,  Fletcher  Pom- 
eroy;  senior  vice  commander,  Burt  F.  Burlingham;  junior  vice  com- 
mander, Robert  Danner  and  Delos  Jones;  secretary,  Henry  L. 
Adams;  treasurer,  W.  A.  Goss;  guide,  J.  A.  Demuth;  inner  guard,  E. 
F.  Pomeroy ;  outer  guard,  Ed.  M.  Shipman ;  patriotic  instructor,  Jos. 
Durham ;  color  bearer,  J.  Guy  Bixley. 

The  present  membership  numbers  forty-eight.  The  present  of- 
ficers are:  Commander,  C.  F.  Stuart;  senior  vice  commander,  H.  A. 
Hall;  junior  vice  commander,  Walter  Richardson;  patriotic  in- 
structor, J.  V.  Griffin;  treasurer,  A.  H.  Davis;  secretary,  R.  M.  Mc- 
Gee;  chaplain,  W.  A.  Goss;  color  bearer,  J.  R.  Danner;  guide,  Thos. 
Gillette;  trustee,  C.  F.  Parker. 

Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution 

The  General  Richard  Gridley  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  was  organized  in  Glendale  November  17.  1913, 
with  a  charter  membership  of  twenty-two. 

The  officers  elected  for  1913  were:  Mrs.  Mary  Howard  Gridley, 
regent;  Mrs.  Minnie  Babcock.  vice  regent;  Mrs.  Robert  H.  Kimball, 
recording  secretary;  Mrs.  Thomas  Preston,  corresponding  secretary; 
Mrs.  W.  Herman  West,  registrar. 

The  meetings  are  held  on  the  afternoons  of  the  first  Thursday 
of  each  month  at  the  homes  of  the  various  members.  The  Chapter  has 
at  present  a  membership  numbering  fifty. 

In  addition  to  the  avowed  object  of  the  organization,  that  of 
fostering  and  promoting  patriotism,  the  members  of  the  Glendale 
Chapter  have  interested  themselves  in  various  local  philanthropic 
and  charitable  activities.  The  officers  of  1923  are  the  following: 
Mrs.  John  Hyde  Braly,  regent;  Mrs.  C.  W.  Huston,  first  vice  regent; 
Miss  Ida  D.  Myers,  second  vice  regent;  Mrs.  Mable  Franklin  Ocker, 
corresponding  secretary;  Mrs.  H.  A.  Strong,  treasurer;  Mrs.  H.  But- 
terfield,  Burbank,  chaplain;  Mrs.  J.  A.  Crawford,  recording  secretary. 

Glendale  Chapter  American  Red  Cross 

The  local  Red  Cross  was  organized  in  1916,  about  a  year  before 
the  United  States  entered  the  war  and  was  at  first  a  branch  of  the 
Los  Angeles  institution.     Later,  July  12,  1917,  it  was  organized  as 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  239 

an  independent  Chapter  with  the  following  oflficers :  John  Hyde 
Braly,  chairman ;  T.  F.  McCrea,  vice  chairman ;  Mrs.  Mabel  Franklin 
Ocker,  secretary;  Mr.  F.  H.  Vesper,  treasurer;  Mrs.  H.  E.  Bartlett, 
purchasing  agent. 

In  January.  1918,  Mr.  McCrea  was  succeeded  bj'  A.  L.  Lawshe, 
who  was  in  turn  succeeded  by  Olin  Spencer.  Mrs.  H.  E.  Bartlett, 
who  had  been  purchasing  agent  since  the  organization,  succeeded 
Mr.  Spencer  as  acting  chairman  and  in  the  early  part  of  1919  after 
the  armistice  had  been  declared,  when  the  work  was  reorganized  on 
a  post-war  basis,  she  was  elected  chairman,  an  office  she  still  fills. 

At  the  peak  of  its  activities,  the  membership  numbered  3,000, 
practically  all  active  members  doing  w(jrk  at  home  if  not  at  head- 
quarters. 

Its  annual  drive  for  the  renewal  of  the  $1  a  year  memberships 
in  November.  1922,  Mrs.  John  Robert  White,  chairman,  resulted  in 
a  list  numbering  2,431  members. 

The  officers  elected  for  1923  are  as  follows:  Mrs.  H.  E.  Bartlett, 
chairman ;  Mrs.  W.  W.  Worley,  vice  chairman ;  Mrs.  John  Robert 
White,  Jr..  secretarj' ;  Miss  Neva  Veysey,  treasurer. 

American  Legion 

Glendale  Post  No.  127  was  organized  in  August.  1919.  It  meets 
in  its  own  hall,  610  A  East  Broadway,  every  Friday  night.  Officers 
for  1923  are:  Chalmer  Day,  commander;  Mitchell  Frug,  first  vice 
commander;  Donald  Packer,  second  vice  commander;  Attorney  W.  C. 
Anspaugh,  adjutant;  Henry  Prussing.  treasurer;  Frank  Secrest,  ser- 
geant-at-arms ;  Rev.  C.  M.  Calderwood,  historian;  Emil  O.  Kiefer, 
Attorney  Eugene  Wix  and  Robert  C.  Plume,  trustees. 

Women's  Unit  .\meric.\n  Legion 

The  Women's  Unit  of  the  American  Legion  was  organized  in 
March,  1920,  and  has  100  members.  It  meets  at  the  Legion  hall  the 
first  Monday  night  and  third  Monday  afternoon  of  every  month. 

The  of^cers  for  1923  are:  Mrs.  Margaret  Kaeding,  president; 
Mrs.  L.  T.  Rowley,  first  vice  president;  Mrs.  E.  L.  Sullivan,  second 
vice  president;  Mrs.  Charles  T.  Jones,  secretary;  Miss  Josephine 
Emery,  treasurer;  Mrs.  E.  Wheelon,  sergeant-at-arms. 

Spanish  War  Veterans 

The  Glendale  Camp  of  the  Spanish  War  Veterans  was  established 
in  June,  1922.  and  has  a  membership  of  sixty-eight.  The  officers  for 
1923  are:  Dr.  William  C.  Mabry,  commander  and  surgeon;  L.  D. 
Pike,  senior  vice  commander;  Cameron  D.  Thorn,  junior  vice  com- 
mander; Col.  J.  D.  Eraser,  chaplain;  Herbert  Gray,  officer  of  the 
day;  Jack  Satow,  officer  of  the  guard;  Samuel  Warren,  adjutant; 
.Alexander  Schmitt,  quartermaster;  John  Clark,  historian;  Harry 
Girard,  musician;  Capt.  G.  L.  Rollins,  patriotic  instructor;  Frank 
E.  Peters,  sergeant  major;  G.  T.  Harness,  quartermaster  sergeant; 
George  L.  Murphy  and  Forest  E.  Hill,  color  guards;  Capt.  William 
B.  Kelly  and  Capt.  William  A.  Living,  trustees. 


CHAPTER  XX 

CHURCHES 

Central  Avenue  M.  E.  Church 

This  is  the  pioneer  church  of  the  valley.  The  record  shows  that 
it  was  incorporated  October  6,  1884.  under  the  name  of  The  Riverdale 
M.  E.  Church.  It  was  organized  previous  to  this  date.  The  record 
is  deficient  as  to  the  first  months  of  the  organization's  existence. 
The  facts  of  its  beginning,  however,  are  clearly  remembered  by  one 
of  the  pioneers  who  was  on  the  ground. 

In  the  early  part  of  1884,  the  necessity  for  a  church  building 
was  felt  by  the  group  of  settlers  who  had  recently  moved  into  the 
neighborhood,  as  the  only  building  available  for  public  meetings  of 
any  kind  was  the  recently  completed  school  building  which  stood 
on  the  site  of  the  present  Cerritos  Avenue  school.  The  need  was 
felt  and  acknowledged  by  the  active  members  of  the  community  who 
were  giving  much  of  their  time  and  some  of  their  money  to  the  work 
of  providing  all  the  necessities,  in  the  way  of  improvements  of  a  pub- 
lic nature,  which  are  a  necessity  in  every  American  community,  par- 
ticularly facilities  for  education  of  the  young  and  the  observances  of 
religious  worship. 

Among  these  pioneers  were  a  few  church  members,  particularly 
of  the  Methodist  and  the  Presbyterian  denominations,  and  a  consid- 
erable number  who  had  never  been  afifiliated  with  any  religious  or- 
ganization. All,  however,  joined  in  building  a  church  structure 
which  was  not  originally  intended  to  be  used  exclusively  by  any  par- 
ticular denomination,  but  should  be  free  to  all  comers  in  which  to 
hold  religious  services.  The  building  was  located  on  Glendale  .Av- 
enue at  a  point  which  would  now  corner  on  Windsor  Road,  that 
road  not  then  being  in  existence.  Among  those  assisting  in  the  build- 
ing of  the  structure  was  a  retired  Methodist  preacher.  Rev.  H.  R. 
Stevens,  and  almost  immediately  after  the  building  was  completed, 
Mr.  Stevens  organized  his  Methodist  brethren  and  took  possession 
in  the  name  of  his  church.  There  was  some  good  natured  talk  about 
Mr.  Stevens  having  "stolen  a  march"  on  the  Presbyterians,  but  the 
matter  was  fixed  up  harmoniously  among  those  concerned.  The 
names  of  those  participating  in  the  original  organization  have  been 
preserved  as  follows:  H.  R.  Stevens,  W.  B.  Warner,  B.  F.  Patterson, 
W.  G.  Watson,  Peter  Backman,  P.  H.  Bullis,  A.  S.  Hollingsworth. 
N.  B.  Huff,  G.  D.  Howland. 

Rev.  Stevens  evidently  served  as  an  irregular  volunteer  until 
a  regular  preacher  was  appointed  which  the  record  shows  was  on  Jan- 
uary 1,  1885,  when  the  Rev.  M.  L.  Williams  was  appointed  pastor  and 


G  LEND  ALE  AND  VICINITY  241 

served  until  June  of  the  same  year.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J.  G 
Sigler,  who  remained  a  few  months  only  when  Rev.  C.  W.  Tarr  suc- 
ceeded him,  serving  about  a  year.  From  that  time  on  the  record  of 
ministers  officiating  in  this  church  is  as  follows:  E.  J.  Inwood,  1886- 
1887;  J.  M.  Hilbish.  1887-1888;  Frank  M.  Johnson,  1888-1889;  S.  B. 
Woolpert,  1889-1890;  F.  S.  Woodcock,  1891-1893;  Jas.  M.  Hilbert, 
1893-1896;  H.  J.  Crist.  1896-1901;  E.  S.  Chase,  1901-1904;  John  Pit- 
tenger,  1904-1907;  J.  H.  Henry,  1907-1909;  \V.  C.  Botkin,  1909-1911; 
S.  W.  Cams,  1911-1914;  R.  T.  Smith,  1914-1915;  Dan  S.  Ford,  1915- 
1917;  B.  C.  Cory.  1917-1918;  H.  S.  Munger,  1918-1919;  F.  Marion 
Smith,  1919-1920;  D.  Hunter  Brink.  1920-1923. 

In  1904  the  congregation  obtained  a  lot  on  the  corner  of  Central 
and  Palmer  Avenues  and  the  building  was  removed  to  the  rear  of  this 
lot.  This  building  was  used  until  1913  when  the  present  church  was 
erected.  As  indicating  the  growth  of  this  church  in  recent  years  the 
records  show  for  1920  an  active  membership  of  eighty  persons  and 
now  has  increased  to  215. 

Glendale  Presbyterian  Church 

The  Glendale  Presbyterian  Church  had  its  organized  beginning 
September  28,  1884.  At  that  time  there  were  but  very  few  settlers 
sparsely  scattered  over  the  valley,  and  the  name  "Glendale"  had  not 
yet  been  assumed. 

The  labor  of  the  veteran  Rev.  J.  R.  Boat  of  Los  Angeles  gath- 
ered together  the  little  group  who  became  the  charter  members  of  the 
church.  They  were  the  following :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  T.  Byram,  their 
daughter.  Miss  Eva  (Mrs.  J.  M.  Banker)  and  son,  Mr.  W.  D.  By- 
ram,  Mrs.  Byram's  aged  father,  Mr.  John  D.  Miller,  his  daughter. 
Miss  Alice  Miller  (Mrs.  Elias  Ayers),  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Ayres 
and  daughter  Mary  G.  Ayres,  Mrs.  Catherine  Erskine  and  her 
mother,  \Irs.  Rachel  Christler,  and  Miss  Adah  Z.  Coleman. 

Early  in  1885,  by  most  earnest  effort  and  self  denial,  a  very  simple 
and  plain  frame  building,  thirty-six  feet  square,  was  erected  on  the 
old-time  Mexican  highway  which  afterwards  came  to  be  known  as 
Glendale  Avenue,  at  about  the  point  of  the  subsequent  Glendale-Trop- 
ico  boundary.  Incoming  settlers  afterwards  locating  mostly  farther 
north,  the  building  in  1886  or  '87  was  moved  and  placed  on  ground 
given  by  Mr.  E.  T.  Byram  and  Mr.  B.  F.  Patterson  on  the  corner  since 
known  as  Broadway  and  Cedar. 

Here  the  church's  history  continued,  small,  modest  and  faithfully 
persistent,  through  the  years  of  the  valley's  infancy,  under  a  succes- 
sion of  pastoral  care.  The  first  in  charge  was  Rev.  W.  S.  Young, 
who  of  later  years  has  long  been  the  honored  clerk  of  Los  Angeles 
Presbytery  and  also  of  the  Svnod  of  California.  He  was  followed  bv 
Revs.  A.  R.  Bickenback,  Reu'el  Dodd.  E.  R.  Mills,  D.  M.  Stuart,  C.  D. 
Merrill,  S.  Lawrence  Ward,  D.  D.,  and  Walter  E.  Edmonds  whose 
service  began  December  11,  1911. 

Early  in  1904  a  small  colony  withdrew  and  formed  the  church  of 
Tropico.  In  1907  need  was  felt  of  better  accommodation  for  the  Sun- 
day school,  and  extremely  modest  planning  to  that  end  was  begun. 


242  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

This  continued  and  gradually  expanded  until  it  became  the  plan  for  an 
entire  new  church,  which  many  there  thought  daringlj-  and  needless- 
ly large.  Moving  the  original  building  to  the  back  corner  of  the 
ground,  the  new  was  begun  on  the  old  spot  in  November,  1910.  This 
was  completed  and  entered  in  1911.  nearly  coincident  with  the  begin- 
ning of  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  W.  E.  Edmonds,  and  most  timely  for 
the  unforeseen  great  growth  of  town  and  church  which  was  ap- 
proaching. 

From  that  time  onward  a  history  has  unfolded  of  continuous  and 
ever  increasing  e.xpansion  and  opportunity  of  usefulness.  A  distinct 
feature  in  this  history  has  been  the  privilege  from  time  to  time  of 
the  services  of  many  most  valuable  men,  men  of  national  and  inter- 
national reputation.  Another  feature  has  been  the  occasional  holding 
of  interdenominational  Bible  conferences,  supplied  by  many  speak- 
ers of  the  highest  standing,  whose  work  has  had  profoundly  useful 
and  of  formative  effect. 

The  numbers  and  work  of  the  church  rapidly  outgrowing  the 
building,  first  steps  were  taken  late  in  1920  for  providing  a  much 
larger  and  more  completely  equipped  church  home.  A  site  central 
to  the  town  was  chosen  at  Harvard  and  Louise  streets,  and  here 
ground  was  broken  on  Easter  day.  1922.  The  building  is  expected  to 
be  ready  for  occupation  late  in  1923.  The  membership  of  the  church 
January  1,  1923.  approximates  1,150;  the  average  attendance  at  the 
Sunday  School,  about  600. 

The  Episcop.\l  Church  in  Glendale 

The  Episcopal  Church  was  organized  in  Glendale  as  the  Mission 
of  the  Good  Shepherd  in  March,  1889.  The  Reverend  John  D.  Easter 
was  appointed  missionary  in  charge  and  Mr.  Henry  J.  Moore  became 
warden.  Services  were  held  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Hilda's  School  of 
which  Mr.  Easter  was  rector. 

In  1893  steps  were  taken  towards  the  erection  of  a  church  edi- 
fice. The  first  service  in  the  new  building  was  held  the  first  Sunday 
after  Easter  that  same  year.  A  Sundaj'  School  was  organized  by 
Mr.  George  Eley  who  later  became  rector  of  the  parish. 

In  the  spring  of  1894  the  name  of  the  Mission  was  changed  to  that 
of  St.  Mark's  Glendale.  Mr.  Eley  was  lay  reader  in  charge  of  the 
Mission  from  the  fall  of  1894  when  Mr.  McKenzie.  who  had  been 
rector,  resigned  to  take  up  work  elsewhere.  He  continued  to  con- 
duct the  work  until  1895  when  Mr.  Robinson  came  to  assume  charge, 
under  whose  leadership  the  church  was  finished. 

In  1900.  Mr.  Eley,  who  had  in  the  meantime  been  ordained  to  the 
ministry,  became  rector  and  continued  as  such  until  1907.  In  1914 
during  the  rectorship  of  the  Rev.  C.  Irving  Mills  the  church  was 
moved  from  its  original  site  at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Isabel 
Streets  to  its  present  location  at  Harvard  and  Louise  Streets.  The 
building  was  enlarged  so  as  to  double  its  seating  capacity. 

At  present  there  are  between  200  and  300  communicants,  a  Sun- 
day School  of  about  150,  the  organizations  such  as  the  Woman's 
(juild.   Woman's   Auxiliary.   The    Daughters   of   the   King,   and   The 


First    Methodist    (•"piscoiial   tluirrh. 


Central    Cliristian    Cliiinli. 


I'irst   I'rcsbvtc'riaii  I  luuoli  ol   the   I'ast. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  245 

Order  of  Sir  Galahad.  The  officers  of  the  parish  at  present  are:  Rev. 
Phihp  K.  Kemp,  rector;  Mr.  John  Trotter,  senior  warden;  Mr.  Alex 
J.   Badger,  junior  warden  and   Mr.  John  T.  Gate,  clerk. 

First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Glendale 

In  the  fall  of  1903  the  Methodists  in  Glendale.  although  few  in 
number,  decided  that  it  was  time  to  organize  a  church,  as  Tropico  al- 
ready had  an  organization  of  that  denomination  (the  first  church  or- 
ganization in  the  valley,  as  told  elsewhere).  A  coniniittee  was  ap- 
pointed to  wait  upon  the  Presiding  Elder.  Rev.  John  Stafford,  of  the 
Pasadena  district.  The  result  of  the  committee's  work  was  that 
Rev.  Stafford  came  to  Glendale  to  investigate  the  conditions.  It  was 
arranged  for  him  to  preach  in  Odd  p-ellows  Hall,  at  that  time  in  the 
upper  stor)'  of  the  building  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Wilson  Ave- 
nue (then  Third  Street)  and  Glendale  Avenue.  The  date  was  Oc- 
tober 11,  1903.  The  text  from  which  he  spoke  on  that  occasion  was 
in  the  words,  "Not  by  might  or  by  power  but  by  my  spirit,  sayeth 
the  Lord."  At  the  conclusion  of  the  service  he  enrolled  thirty-two 
persons  as  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  of  Glendale.  Mr.  C.  E. 
Russell  was  appointed  class  leader.  On  Monday  following  he  looked 
up  Rev.  Charles  R.  Norton  and  appointed  him  pastor  of  the  new 
church  organization. 

On  October  18,  1903.  the  newly  appointed  pastor  had  a  good  con- 
gregation and  spoke  from  the  text.  "One  thing  is  needful  and  Mary 
has  chosen  the  good  part  that  shall  not  be  taken  from  her."  After 
the  preaching,  a  Sabbath  school  was  organized  with  thirty-five  mem- 
bers; Mr.  C.  E.  Russell,  superintendent.  A  short  time  thereafter 
an  Epworth  League  was  organized  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Hendershott 
with  thirty'  members;  Miss  Frances  Hendershott.  president.  .\  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  secure  a  location  for  the  church  which  it  was 
proposed  to  erect,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  being  Capt. 
(Rev.)  H.  H.  Hall.  At  that  time  Glendale  Avenue  and  Third  Street 
was  the  location  around  which  the  principal  activities  of  Glendale 
centered  and  four  lots  were  secured  on  the  corner  of  Dayton  Court 
and  Third  Street  at  a  cost  of  $1,000.  Plans  were  immediately  made 
for  erecting  a  church  building.  The  pastor  took  hold  of  the  matter 
with  enthusiasm,  personally  carrying  around  the  subscription  list, 
assisted  near  the  end  of  the  cami)aign  by  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Blackburn, 
a  retired  minister  of  the  denomination  then  living  in  Glendale.  .\n 
Aid  Society  had  been  formed  among  the  ladies  of  the  congregation 
which  assisted  greatly  in  the  work,  pledging  in  the  beginning  of  the 
campaign  the  sum  of  $300  and  later  after  the  building  had  been  com- 
]jleted,  aiding  with  $500  more  for  furniture  and  equipment.  On 
September  16,  1906,  Ur.  Robert  Mclntyre,  of  the  First  M.  E.  Church 
in  Los  Angeles,  dedicated  the  new  building,  complimenting  the  pastor 
and  the  congregation  by  saying  that  he  had  never  seen  the  dupli- 
cate of  the  successful  campaign  which  ended  by  the  dedication  of  this 
building.  Dr.  S.  A.  Thompson,  who  had  succeeded  Rev.  Stafford, 
deceased,  said  among  other  things  that  the  Glendale  Methodist  church 
building  was  the  best  in  the  San  Fernando  valley. 


246  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Rev.  Norton  remained  pastor  here  for  four  years  and  saw  an 
increase  of  membership  from  32  to  202,  and  a  report  to  the  conference 
at  the  end  of  his  ministry,  states  that  the  church  property  was  worth 
$10,000.  Of  the  charter  members  of  the  church  the  following  are  still 
residents  of  Glendale:  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  E.  Russell,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Joseph  Brown,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  S.  Quick,  Mrs.  Mary  Turner  and 
Mrs.  Hodgson ;  while  Rev.  Norton  still  survives,  one  of  Glendale's 
most  honored  citizens. 

In  1907  Rev.  N.  J.  Burton  was  appointed  pastor,  continuing  for 
the  conference  year.  In  1908  Rev.  J.  H.  Humphrey  was  appointed 
pastor,  remaining  for  five  years  during  which  the  church  continued 
to  grow  and  prosper,  having  at  the  end  of  that  time  a  membership  of 
375.  In  1913  Rev.  Bede  A.  Johnson  was  appointed  pastor,  serving 
until  1915. 

Rev.  B.  Dudley  Snudden  was  the  pastor  for  the  three  following 
years.  During  his  pastorate  the  new  church  was  built  at  the  corner 
of  Wilson  Avenue  and  Kenwood  Street.  This  was  erected  in  1916-17 
at  a  cost  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  a  sum  which  at  that  time  was  un- 
precedented in  Glendale  for  a  church  structure,  but  which  has  been 
demonstrated  to  have  been  a  most  wise  expenditure. 

Rev.  Charles  Scott  was  pastor  in  1917-18.  Rev.  C.  M.  Crist 
served  in  1921  and  1922.    The  membership  is  now  over  1,100. 

First  Baptist  Church 

On  July  5,  1904,  the  Baptists  of  the  valley  met  at  the  residence 
of  Mr.  S.  C.  Marchant  and  decided  to  form  a  church  organization. 
Among  those  present  were  Rev.  S.  C.  Ohrum  and  A.  M.  Petty.  On 
July  twenty-fourth  the  church  was  organized  under  the  name  of  the 
Calvary  Baptist  Church,  with  twenty-two  charter  members.  A 
present  trustee.  Mr.  J.  M.  Banker,  being  the  only  charter  member  who 
is  now  of  the  church  membership,  was  elected  the  first  church  clerk. 

On  September  23,  1904,  a  Council  of  Recognition  was  held  in  the 
I.  O.  O.  F.  hall,  fifteen  pastors  and  twenty-seven  delegates  being 
present.  At  that  time  Mr.  J.  M.  Banker  gave  a  brief  history  of  the 
church  and  this  was  supplemented  by  a  brief  address  by  Rev.  S.  C. 
Ohrum.  On  September  25,  Rev.  C.  W.  Iller  commenced  his  pastor- 
ate, dividing  his  time  between  Glendale  and  South  Pasadena.  Ser- 
vices were  held  in  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  hall  on  Sundays  at  three  o'clock,  the 
Methodist  brethren  occupying  the  hall  morning  and  evening.  Prayer 
meetings  were  held  regularly  at  the  homes  of  members. 

A  building  committee  was  appointed  and  on  November  13.  1904, 
the  trustees  purchased  two  lots  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  L  Streets 
(the  present  location)  for  the  sum  of  $445.00  and  with  the  help  of  Bap- 
tist friends  outside  and  with  the  resources  of  the  congregation 
money  was  raised  to  erect  a  good  substantial  frame  building  worth 
about  $3,500.  Many  of  the  members  contributed  their  labor  for  weeks 
on  the  structure  as  but  little  money  was  paid  out  for  labor.  Mem- 
bers who  had  teams  did  the  hauling. 

Rev.  E.  K.  Fisher  was  pastor  from  July  25,  1905,  to  April  8,  1906, 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  247 

during  which  time  seventeen  members  were  received  into  the  church. 
I'nder  Mr.  Fisher's  leadership  the  R.  Y.  P.  U.  was  organized. 

Rev.  \Vm.  F.  Stone  was  pastor  from  May  31,  1906.  to  June  3, 
l'X)8.  Under  his  leadership  the  church  became  self-supporting.  Dur- 
ing Mr.  Stone's  pastorate  seventj^-two  members  were  received.  Rev. 
J.  F.  Moody  was  pastor  from  July  31,  1908,  to  February  10,  1910,  and 
during  this  period  sixty-four  members  were  taken  into  the  church. 
During  Mr.  Moody's  regime,  the  Women's  Mission  Circle  was  organ- 
ized with  Mrs.  Moody  as  first  president;  this  organization  has  been 
one  of  the  most  helpful  of  the  church  auxiliaries. 

On  April  1.  1909,  the  church  was  incorporated  as  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Glendale,  J.  M.  Banker,  H.  F.  Freyer  and  James  Hoffman, 
of  the  present  membership,  acting  as  incorporators. 

September  1,  1910.  Rev.  Eugene  Haines  became  pastor,  continu- 
ing until  April  16,  1913.  Under  his  leadership,  103  memljers  were  re- 
ceived into  the  church  by  letter,  twenty-seven  by  baptism  and  eight 
by  e.xi)erience.  During  Mr.  Haines'  administration,  and  under  the 
leadership  of  Mr.  C.  C.  .Arrow  smith,  the  Sunday  School,  organized  in 
1904,  with  two  classes  and  al)out  twenty  children,  had  outgrown  its 
quarters  and  J.  M.  Banker,  W.  F.  Wood,  C.  E.  Reed  and  Mrs.  W.  W. 
lyicElroy  were  members  of  a  building  committee  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  the  building  enterprise,  which  was  conducted  successfully, 
the  old  church  building  l)eing  sold  to  the  Adventists  for  $1,500.  Ser- 
vices were  continued  at  the  new  location.  Wilson  and  Isabel,  for  about 
one  year,  during  which  the  ])resent  building  was  constructed  at  a  cost 
of  about  $11,000,  Mr.  J.  M.  Banker  in  this,  as  on  former  occasions, 
l>roving  his  loyalty  and  helpfulness. 

On  October  2,  1913,  after  a  period  of  several  months  of  supplies, 
Rev.  Troy  became  pastor,  and  according  to  a  letter  written  by  Sara  A. 
Pollard,  on  September  30,  1914,  the  growth  had  up  to  that  time  been 
lifty  per  cent  of  the  membership  at  the  beginning  of  the  church  year. 
Rev.  Troy's  pastorate  terminated  March  1,  1916. 

On  July  16,  1916,  Rev.  Vernon  H.  Cowsert  counnenced  his  pas- 
torate, continuing  until  August  1,  1918.  During  this  pastorate,  being 
the  war  period,  notwithstanding  the  many  demands  made  by  the  gov- 
ernment, the  membershij)  responded  U)yally  to  all  appeals  and  con- 
tributed their  quota  to  the  Million  Dollar  Drive  as  well  as  keeping  up 
their  regular  contributions,  both  general  and  missionar}-. 

On  July  first  the  present  jiastor.  Rev.  Ernest  E.  Ford,  entered 
upon  his  duties  as  church  leader,  and  thus  far  the  indications  are  that 
the  church  has  entered  upon  another  era  of  great  ])rosperity  and  use- 
fulness. 

The  present  membership  is  560  with  a  Sunday  School  of  500. 
The  church  is  on  the  eve  of  building  a  new  auditorium  at  a  cost  of 
about  $100,000.  Lots  have  been  purchased  in  the  .\twater  Tract,  on 
the  edge  of  Los  -Angeles,  for  another  church  soon  to  be  erected. 

Tropico  Presi!VTeri.\n   Church 

This  church  was  organized  in  January,  1904,  by  a  number  of 
Presbyterians  residing  in  Tropico  who  withdrew  from  the  Glendale 


248  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

church  to  form  an  independent  organization.  The  organization  was 
effected  in  Richardson's  hall  with  thirty-three  members.  The  first 
elders  selected  were  John  Hobbs,  F.  R.  Bear  and  Nelson  C.  Burch. 
Rev.  D.  M.  Stewart,  who  had  resigned  from  the  Presbyterian  church 
of  Glendale,  was  the  first  pastor,  serving  from  1904  to  1907.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  .A.  W.  McConnell  who  remained  until  1909.  He 
was  followed  by  Rev.  H.  C.  Shoemaker,  who  served  until  1911.  Then 
came  Rev.  C.  B.  Hatch,  officiating  until  1914.  Rev.  O.  P.  Ryder 
served  until  1921  when  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  Jas.  F.  Winnard, 
D.  D.,  was  installed. 

The  first  church  building  was  located  at  the  corner  of  Glendale 
and  Park  Avenues.  The  present  house  of  worship  is  located  at  the 
corner  of  Central  .Avenue  and  Laurel  Street. 

Seventh  D.w  Ad\'entist  Church 

The  Glendale  Sanitarium  has  ever  since  1905  been  a  Glendale  in- 
stitution, playing  an  important  part  in  the  upbuilding  f>{  the  city.  The 
ordinary  sanitarium  has  for  its  sole  object  the  upbuilding  of  the  phy- 
sical and  the  mental  constituents  of  the  human  being,  but  the  sani- 
tariums of  the  Seventh  Day  .\dventists  add  to  this  service,  the  de- 
\elopment  of  the  spirit;  and  it  therefore  follows  that  the  care  of  the 
body  and  the  welfare  of  the  soul  are  blended  together  in  one  purpose 
wherever  these  institutions  are  found.  Following  closely  therefore 
upon  the  establismment  of  the  sanitarium  by  the  people  from  Battle 
Creek  in  the  latter  i)art  of  1905,  came  the  organization  of  the  church 
body  on  Januar}'  27,  1906,  at  3  o'clock  P.  M.,  Elder  George  \N'.  Reeser 
officiating.  There  were  about  thirty  charter  members  and  the  follow- 
ing officers  were  chosen:  Elder,  Charles  F.  Marvin;  deacon,  M.  De- 
roy  Learned;  deaconesses,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Learned,  Mrs.  Laura  B.  Hyatt; 
clerk,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  M.  Stanley;  librarian,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  M.  Stan- 
ley; treasurer.  The  Glendale  Sanitarium. 

Services  were  at  first  held  in  the  Sanitarium  building;  then  the 
frame  church,  purchased  of  the  Baptists,  was  moved  onto  the  lot  on 
the  southwest  corner  of  Wilson  Avenue  and  Isabel  Street.  This  soon 
I^roved  too  small  for  the  rapidly  growing  congregation  and  a  larger 
building  was  erected  about  three  years  ago  on  the  corner  of  Califor- 
nia and  Isabel  Streets.  At  the  present  time  this  building  is  much 
too  small  for  the  congregation  as  the  membership  now  is  over  seven 
hundred. 

Church  of  the  Hoi.v  Famh,v 

This  parish  was  established  in  1907  when  Rev.  James  S.  O'Neill, 
then  stationed  in  Los  Angeles,  was  called  to  the  office  of  Bishop 
Conaty  and  told  to  "Go  to  Glendale — hire  a  hall — establish  a  parish." 

The  splendid  church  building  recently  dedicated,  and  the  large 
congregation  worshijiing  there,  testifies  eloquently  to  the  fact  that 
"Father"  O'Neill  not  only  obeyed  orders  and  went,  but  that  he  pos- 
sessed good  staying  qualities,  for  he  is  in  Glendale  yet.  The  hall  he 
hired  was  the  old  G.  A.  R.  hall  on  Glendale  .\venue,  where  services 
were  held  for  nine  months,  the  congregation  numbering  about  sixty- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  251 

five  persons  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  valley.  Father  O'Neill's 
jurisldiction  at  that  time  comprised  Tilendale.  Tropico,  Burbank,  Van 
Nuys  and  Lankershim.  He  held  services  in  Burbank  also  in  connec- 
tion with  his  Glendale  duties  and  I)uilt  churches  in  both  places. 

In  1908,  Mrs.  Emeline  Childs  of  Los  Angeles,  donated  land  in  the 
"Child  Tract"  on  East  Lomita  Avenue  where  the  church  building  was 
erected  that  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Francis  J.  Conaty,  as  master  of 
ceremonies,  on  Sunday.  September  29.  1908.  A  congregation  was 
present  that  filled  the  new  church  to  its  capacity.  The  growth  of 
the  church  kept  up  with  the  growth  of  the  young  city  and  by  1920 
the  congregation  comprised  some  three  hundred  families,  and  the 
need  for  a  new  building  becoming  imperative.  Father  O'Neill  went 
to  work  and  got  it.  The  building  was  completed  and  blessed  in  1921, 
but  the  dedication  was  delayed  until  the  erection  and  occupancy  of 
a  rectory.  The  dedication  took  place  on  Sunday.  September  24.  1922, 
Right  Rev.  Bishop  Cantwell  assisted  by  a  large  body  of  priests,  offi- 
ciating. After  the  dedication  adjournment  was  had  to  the  rooms  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  where  a  banquet  was  given  in  honor  of 
the  Bishop,  addresses  being  made  by  Bishop  Cantwell,  Hon.  Joseph 
Scott,  Judge  Paul  McCormick,  Hon.  Spencer  Robinson,  Mayor  of 
Glendale,  and  others;  the  audience  representing  practically  all  the 
denominations  in  the  city. 

Rev.  James  O'Neill  was  born  in  Boston,  one  of  a  family  of  ten 
children.  He  received  his  education  at  Boston  University,  and  studied 
theolog)'  and  philosophj'  at  St.  Bonaventuras  College,  in  Alleghany. 
New  York.  He  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  1902.  Coming  to 
California,  Father  O'Neill  was  stationed  at  San  Diego,  Ventura  and 
Los  Angeles,  from  which  station  he  came  to  Glendale.  He  has  made 
himself  a  part  of  the  civic  life  of  Glendale.  being  a  member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  of  the  Benevolent  Order  of  Elks,  and  is 
always  ready  to  assist  any  worthy  enterprise  in  the  city. 

Early  in  1923  ground  will  be  broken  for  the  erection  of  a  parish 
school  and  Sisters  Convent,  which  enterprise  will  involve  an  expendi- 
ture of  $50,000. 

West  Glendale  M.  E.  Church 

In  the  spring  of  1908,  J.  C.  Lennox  of  the  First  Methodist  Church 
of  Glendale,  erected  a  small  building  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the 
present  structure.  A  Sunday  School  was  organized  with  L.  A.  Wood 
as  Superintendent.  The  first  preaching  services  were  conducted  by 
Rev.  N.  J.  Burton  and  Rev.  W.  S.  Blackburn  and  others.  This 
arrangement  was  continued  for  a  few  months,  or  until  the  advent  of 
Dr.  A.  B.  Morrison.  Under  his  administration,  on  May  26,  1909,  the 
West  Glendale  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  with  a  membership  of 
twenty  was  organized.  Rev.  L.  A.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  Superintendent 
of  Pasadena  District,  presiding.  The  official  members  consisted  of 
the  following  stewards:  C.  F.  Smith,  J.  W.  Durham,  M.  S.  Van 
Luven,  W.  R.  Burrington;  Sunday  School  Superintendent,  L.  A. 
Wood. 


252  GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY 

In  September,  1910,  the  foundation  was  laid  for  the  present  build- 
ing. The  first  service  was  held  in  the  completed  structure,  December 
18,  1910. 

The  church  is  valued  at  $6,000  and  the  six-room  modern  par- 
sonage and  garage  are  valued  at  $3,500. 

Record  of  Pastors:  Rev.  A.  B.  Morrison,  •08-'12;  Rev.  M.  R. 
Walton,  '12-'14;  Rev.  H.  S.  Hartsell.  'U-'\6;  Rev.  C.  A.  Norcross, 
'16-'17;  Rev.  E.  M.  Crandall.  ■17-'18;  Rev.  W.  W.  Cookman.  '18-'21 ; 
Rev.  Harley  G.  Preston,  '21-'22;  Rev.  H.  C.  Muller,  1922. 

The  present  membership  is  eighty. 

The  Chri.sti.\x  Church 

In  the  fall  of  1908,  Rev.  J.  W.  Utter,  then  with  the  Broadway 
Church,  Los  Angeles,  made  a  canvass  of  the  city  of  Glendale  and 
began  a  series  of  revival  meetings.  His  success  encouraged  him  in 
the  belief  that  he  had  found  a  fertile  field  in  which  to  build  up  a 
congregation  and  establish  a  Christian  Church.  He  asked  to  be 
relieved  of  his  duties  in  Los  Angeles  and  entered  heartily  into  his 
self-imposed  task.  He  labored  with  the  growing  congregation  for 
five  years,  building  it  up  to  a  church  membership  of  two  hundred. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  E.  E.  Francis  who  remained  for  three 
years,  the  congregation  constantly  increasing  in  numbers.  January 
1,  1917,  Rev.  ClifTord  A.  Cole  was  called  from  the  Compton  Heights 
Church.  St.  Louis,  and  has  remained  the  minister  up  to  the  present. 
This  church  has  now  a  membership  of  nearly  700.  The  congrega- 
tion at  first,  and  for  eighteen  months,  met  in  the  G.  A.  R.  Hall  on 
South  Glendale  .Avenue.  The  original  church  was  erected  in  1909. 
The  following  named  persons  with  many  others  participated  in  its 
establishment:  A.  K.  Crawford,  S.  P.  Borthick,  A.  B.  Heacock,  J. 
P.  Shropshire,  E.  H.  Learned,  Miss  Mary  Chester.  The  present 
church  edifice  was  dedicated  July  2.  1922. 

The  Christian  Church  is  identified  in  the  V.  S.  Census  report 
as  "The  Disciples  of  Christ."  It  is  the  largest  body  of  Christians 
having  origin  in  the  United  States  and  is  fifth  in  numbers  among 
Protestant  bodies,  having  a  membership  of  about  a  million  and  a 
half.  It  has  spread  out  over  Great  Britain,  France,  Scandinavia 
Russia,  Austria  and  other  lands,  with  its  greatest  strength  in  the 
central  portion  of  the  United  States. 

Cas.a  Verdugo  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

In  the  Journal  of  the  Southern  California  Conference,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  for  the  year  1910  appears  the  ff)llowing 
notation :  "Casa  Verdugo  is  a  beautiful  settlement  of  twelve  to 
fifteen  hundred  people  at  the  end  of  the  Glendale  trolley  line,  about 
one  and  one-half  miles  northwest  of  that  city.  There  is  no  church 
organization  there  of  any  kind,  nor  was  there  a  .Sunday  School  until 
Dr.  J.  F.  Humphrey,  our  pastor  at  Glendale,  and  some  of  his  efficient 
workers  started  fine,  which  has  been  successfully  carried  on  and  is 
rapidly  growing." 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  25;{ 

The  Journal  of  the  same  year  records  the  appointinciu  by  Bishop 
Edwin  H.  Hughes,  of  Rev.  C.  R.  Norton  to  the  pastorate  at  Casa 
Verdugo.  During  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Norton,  extending  to  the  fall 
of  1913,  a  society  was  organized  and  a  chapel  erected  on  a  purchased 
lot  just  west  of  the  present  site  of  their  property  at  the  corner  nf 
Park  Place  and  Xorth  Central  Avenue. 

In  the  fall  of  1913.  Rev.  M.  K.  Stcme  was  appointed  pastor. 
serving  one  year,  at  the  expiration  of  which.  Rev.  Julius  Soper  having 
returned  from  his  appointment,  made  in  1873.  as  Missionary  in  Japan, 
was  appointed  pastor  at  Casa  Verdugo  serving  the  charge  for  five 
years.  The  records  show  that  at  the  close  of  the  pastorate  of  Dr. 
Soper  the  membership  had  reached  90,  the  Sunday  School  enrollment 
109,  and  that  the  church  property  was  valued  at  $1,899. 

In  October  of  1919,  Rev.  E.  O.  Thayer  succeeded  Dr.  Soper  in 
the  pastorate  of  this  church,  continuing  until  October  of  1921,  when 
the  present  pastor.  Rev,  J.  C.  Livingston,  was  appointed  to  the 
charge.  During  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Thayer  the  present  property 
was  bought  and  the  new  building  erected. 

At  the  present  time  the  membership  has  reached  150.  The  aver- 
age attendance  at  Sunday  Schonl  is  145,  and  the  church  property  is 
valued  at  $20,000.  Situation  and  environment  provide  valuable 
assets  to  this  prosperous  and  popular  church.    Its  future  looks  bright. 

CONGREG.\TION'.M.   ChURCH 

The  story  of  this  church  is  one  of  the  innumerable  cases  showing 
the  remarkable  growth  of  all  Glendale  institutions.  It  was  organized 
on  November  26.  1911.  Preliminary  services  had  been  held  for  three 
consecutive  Sundays  in  the  K.  of  P.  Hall,  in  the  second  story  of  the 
building  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Brand  Boulevard  and  Wilson 
Avenue.  The  organizer  was  Rev.  E.  H.  Willisford.  Twenty-five 
people  constituted  the  charter  members.  In  May  of  1912,  Dr.  Willi.s- 
ford  was  able  to  purchase  for  the  congregation  two  lots  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Wilson  and  Central  and  the  "Bungalow  Church" 
was  built  on  that  site  during  that  year,  the  reverend  gentleman  him- 
self putting  in  many  days'  work  with  hammer  and  saw.  This  building 
was  dedicated  June  30,  1912,  and  Rev.  Willisford  formally  installed 
at  a  special  service  held  July  first.  By  December,  1914,  the  building 
])roved  inadequate  to  accommodate  the  Sunday  School  and  a  wing 
was  added  on  each  side  of  the  building. 

In  December,  1916,  a  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  devise 
ways  and  means  to  obtain  a  more  suitable  building,  but  all  plans  were 
interfered  with  by  the  war.  Dr.  Willisford  obtained  leave  of  absence 
to  engage  in  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work,  went  overseas  and  took  active  part 
in  that  work  in  France  within  range  of  the  guns.  During  his  absence 
Rev.  W.  J.  Marsh  supplied  the  church  very  successfully.  On  Septem- 
ber 5,  1919,  the  congregation  held  a  celebration  and  burned  the  church 
mortgages.  The  building  committee  was  discharged  at  this  time 
and  in  June,  1920,  Rev.  Willisford  tendered  his  resignation  and 
accepted  a  call  to  the  church  at  Houston,  Texas. 


254  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

A  call  was  issued  to  Rev.  Charles  M.  Calderwood,  of  Lee, 
Massachusetts,  who  accepted,  and  preached  his  first  sermon  as 
pastor  on  the  first  Sunday  in  November.  1920.  In  the  interim.  Rev. 
Clyde  Sheldon  Shepard  acted  as  pastor  very  acceptably.  Plans  for 
a  new  church  building  were  again  taken  up  and  in  May,  1921,  a 
building  committee  of  five  persons  was  appointed,  consisting  of  the 
following;  Blake  Franklin,  Chas.  B.  Guthrie.  E.  D.  Yard,  Hartley 
Shaw  and  Thomas  White.  On  January  11,  1922,  a  detailed  report 
was  made  by  the  committee  and  it  was  decided  to  adopt  plans  for  a 
building  to  cost,  with  furnishings.  $80,000.  Mr.  C.  L.  Peckham  and 
G.  H.  Schulte  were  added  to  the  building  committee  which  was  given 
full  power  to  go  ahead  with  the  work.  Services  were  held  in  the  old 
building  and  ground  broken  for  the  new  one,  on  May  12,  1922,  being 
Frida}'.  The  "services"  on  this  occasion  consisted  in  a  social  dinner 
and  an  enjoj-able  musical  entertainment.  On  the  following  Sunday 
the  last  sermon  was  preached  in  the  old  church.  The  new  edifice  will 
be  completed  and  dedicated  early  in   1923. 

First  Church  of  Christ,  Scienti.st 

March  31,  1912,  eighteen  members  of  the  Third  Church  of 
Christ,  Scientist,  of  Los  Angeles,  withdrew  their  membership  from 
that  church  in  order  to  form  a  church  in  Glendale.  and  on  April  17, 
1912,  the  First  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  of  Glendale.  was  incorpo- 
rated under  the  laws  of  the  State. 

The  Masonic  Hall  was  rented,  and  on  Sunday.  Maj'  19.  1912,  the 
first  church  service  was  held.  The  large  attendance  and  interest 
manifested  gave  immediate  proof  of  the  need  of  the  new  organization. 
All  church  activities  were  at  once  established.  A  reading  room  was 
opened  for  the  public  in  the  Rudy  block  and  committees  for  special 
work  were  appointed.  The  new  church  proved  to  be  self-supporting 
from  the  start  and  it  was  not  found  necessary  to  accept  the  financial 
assistance  generouslj-  proffered  by  the  Third  Church  of  Los  Angeles. 

On  September  27,  1912,  the  reading  room  was  moved  to  rooms  in 
the  Parker  &  Sternberg  building  on  Brand  below  Broadway,  where 
more  spacious  and  desirable  quarters  were  secured  and  are  still 
retained.  A  building  fund  was  maintained  by  the  church  from  the 
beginning  and  had  so  grown  that  on  April  18.  1913.  the  organization 
was  able  to  make  the  first  payment  on  a  building  site.  Two  lots  were 
obtained  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Maryland  Avenue  and  Second 
Street,  having  a  frontage  of  one  hundred  and  two  feet  on  Maryland 
Avenue  with  a  depth  of  one  hundred  forty-two  and  a  half  feet.  The 
lots  were  purchased  for  twentj'-five  hundred  dollars  and  constitute 
an  admirable  and  central  location. 

By  the  spring  of  1914  the  attendance  at  church  services  had  out- 
grown the  seating  capacity  of  the  Masonic  hall  and  it  was  found 
necessary  to  have  more  commodious  c|uarters.  It  was  found  possible 
to  lease  the  auditorium  of  the  recently  completed  Masonic  Temple, 
centrally  located  with  a  seating  capacity  of  about  three  hundred.  In 
this  location  the  attendance  increased  more  rapidly  than  ever  and  by 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  255 

the  spring  of  1916  it  became  apparent  that  action  must  be  taken  at 
once  to  meet  this  condition.  The  construction  of  a  church  building 
had  become  a  necessity.  The  church  lots  had  in  the  meantime  been 
paid  for  and  there  were  several  hundred  <Ic)llars  in  the  treasury.  At  a 
business  meeting  of  the  church  held  January  28,  1916,  the  Board  of 
Directors  was  empowered  to  take  all  necessary  steps  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  church  building.  The  funds  on  hand  were  limited  but  it 
was  thought  that  by  using  economy  a  temporary  bungalow  church 
could  be  constructed  large  enough  to  meet  present  needs.  However, 
the  desirability  of  a  more  commodious  and  dignified  structure  soon 
became  apparent  and  the  decision  was  taken  to  proceed  with  the 
erection  of  a  permanent  structure.  Not  until  this  step  was  taken  was 
the  need  discerned  of  procuring  financial  assistance  from  the  Trustees 
under  the  will  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  The  work  of  building  the 
church  was  taken  up  so  vigorously  that,  within  fifty-two  working 
days  after  entering  into  the  building  contract,  the  church  edifice  was 
completed  and  ready  for  use.  On  Sunday,  June  11.  1916,  three  well 
attended  services  were  held  in  the  new  structure.  The  contributions 
at  these  services  were  very  liberal  and  the  amount  so  received,  to- 
gether with  the  sums  so  unselfishly  given  during  the  period  of  church 
building,  were  sufficient  to  enable  the  immediate  application  for 
assistance  under  the  will  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy.  At  a  business 
meeting  held  June  16.  1916,  it  was  voted  to  apply  for  such  assistance 
and  on  November  3,  1916,  a  grant  was  made  by  the  Trustees  sufticient 
to  discharge  all  outstanding  indebtedness  against  the  church 
property. 

The  church  edifice  is  a  frame  structure  of  classic  design  with  a 
normal  seating  capacity  of  five  hundred  and  twenty-five,  with  an 
additional  capacity  gained  by  opening  up  other  rooms.  The  church 
building,  attractive  in  appearance,  sets  back  thirty  feet  from  the  front 
line,  leaving  room  for  lawn  and  flowers,  thus  making  it  an  adornment 
to  the  residential  district  in  which  it  is  located. 

First  English  Lutheran  Church 

The  First  English  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  of  Glendale  was 
organized  in  the  L  O.  O.  F.  Mall  on  Sunday,  July  7,  1912,  Rev.  J.  W. 
Ball,  of  Los  Angeles,  officiating.  On  August  first,  Rev.  F.  M.  Rinker 
was  commissioned  by  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  to  become  pastor 
of  the  congregation.  Pastor  Rinker  resigned  the  charge  on  August 
31,  1913. 

Rev.  G.  Wenning  became  pastor  on  January  1,  1914,  remaining 
in  charge  of  the  congregation  for  one  year. 

Rev.  R.  W.  Mottern  became  pastor  on  April  1,  1915.  During 
this  pastorate  the  church  on  the  corner  of  Maryland  Avenue  and 
Harvard  Street  was  dedicated  July  22,  1917.  Rev.  Mottern  resigned 
and  relinquished  his  work  on  July  1,  1920. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Funk  accepted  a  call  to  become  pastor  on  January  1, 
1921.  Under  the  direction  of  the  new  pastor  a  Luther  League  was 
organized   at   Easter,    1921.     The   Common   Service  was  introduced 


2r)6  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

an  adopted  b\'  the  congregation.  On  January  1,  1922,  the  congrega- 
tion adopted  the  use  of  the  robe  for  the  regular  services  of  the 
Sanctuary. 

On  August  18,  1922.  two  valuable  lots  on  Kenwood  Street,  near 
Colorado,  were  purchased  as  a  site  for  a  new  church  edifice.  On 
March  18,  1923,  the  congregation  authorized  the  Trustees  to  sell  the 
church  site  on  Marjland  Avenue  and  Harvard  Street.  Plans  for  a 
new  church  home  valued  at  $40,000.00  are  being  prepared  by  a  special 
committee.  The  First  Lutheran  Church  of  Glendale  is  growing 
rapidly  and  will  be  prepared  to  do  larger  things  when  the  new 
church  is  completed. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
FRATERNAL  ORGANIZATIONS 

Free  Masonry  in  Glendale 

The  Masonic  Lodge  in  Glendale  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
fraternal  orders  to  be  established  in  the  city.  Unity  Lodge  was 
organized  in  1904  with  Prof.  George  U.  Moyse,  then  as  now  the 
principal  of  the  High  School.  Master.  The  number  of  charter  mem- 
bers was  seventeen ;  today  the  number  of  members  is  about  450. 

From  the  original  jurisdiction  of  the  Glendale  Lodge,  three  other 
Masonic  Lodges  have  been  formed,  namely:  Burbank  Lodge,  Eagle 
Rock  Lodge  and  (ilendale  Lodge,  U.  D.  The  combined  membership 
of  the  last  three  is  over  400.  Jklembers  of  the  Masonic  order,  acting 
with  a  few  members  of  the  Fraternal  Brotherhood,  were  instru- 
mental in  erecting  the  first  brick  block  in  Glendale,  the  building  now 
occupied  by  the  Brand  Boulevard  branch  of  the  Pacific-Southwest 
Trust  and  Savings  Bank.  These  two  organizations  were  seriously  in 
need  of  a  hall  in  which  to  hold  their  meetings,  and  a  building  corpora- 
tion was  formed  with  members  of  these  two  bodies  as  the  stock- 
holders. The  hall  in  the  second  story  of  this  building  was  occupied 
for  several  years  as  the  lodge  room  of  Unity  Lodge.  The  Masonic 
Temple  at  232  South  Brand  Boulevard,  was  dedicated  in  1910  and 
has  since  been  the  center  of  the  activities  of  the  order  in  Glendale. 
With  the  organization  of  the  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star,  Royal  Arch 
Masons,  Knights  Templar,  White  Shrine  of  Jerusalem,  Glendale 
Lodge,  U.  D.,  Order  of  de  Molay  for  boys,  and  the  Shrine  Club,  the 
quarters  are  no  longer  adequate  for  the  accommodation  of  the  order 
and  plans  are  now  being  made  for  the  erection  of  a  magnificent 
Temple  which  will  furnish  spacious  and  comfortable  quarters  for  all 
the  Masonic  organizations.  The  ofificers  of  Unity  Lodge,  No.  368  for 
the  year  1923  are  the  following:  Master.  Herman  A.  Strong;  S.  W., 
Xewton  Van  Why ;  J.  W.,  A.  H.  Dibbern ;  Treasurer,  Dan  Campbell ; 
Secretary,  Alphonso  W.  Tower. 

Royal  Arch  Masons 

Unity  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons,  No.  116,  was  organized 
March  2.  1914.  The  first  ofificers  were  the  following:  Herbert  D. 
Lore,  High  Priest;  Mattison  B.  Jones,  King;  David  Crofton,  Secre- 
tary; Charles  L.  Peckham,  Scribe.  This  lodge  has  grown  propor- 
tionately with  the  city  and  has  now  233  members. 

The  present  officers  are  the  following:  Frederick  A.  Collins, 
High  Priest;  Thomas  F.  Carter.  King;  lien  (  ).  Wager.  Secretary. 


258  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Glendale  Commandery  No.  53,  Knights  Templar 

On  the  first  day  of  April,  1914,  R.  E.  William  A.  Hammel,  Grand 
Commander  of  Knights  Templar  of  California,  granted  to  twelve 
Commandery  members  from  five  Grand  jurisdictions,  a  dispensation 
to  organize  a  Commandery  of  Knights  Templar  in  Glendale.  During 
the  first  year  there  were  thirteen  additions  by  affiliation  and  confer- 
ring the  orders,  making  twentv-five  members  when  the  Charter  was 
granted  by  the  Grand  Comma'ndery  and  on  May  7.  1915.  R.  E.  Sir 
Perry  W.  W'eidner.  then  Grand  Commander  of  California,  consti- 
tuted Glendale  Commandery  No.  53.  K.  T.  Edward  Kenneth  Daniels 
was  the  first  Commander  and  Charles  C.  Rittenhouse  the  first 
Recorder. 

The  Commandery  has  had  a  phenomenal  growth,  until  at  present 
it  has  142  members,  with  promising  prospects  ahead.  The  Sir  Knights 
who  have  lieen  called  upon  to  preside  at  the  head  of  the  body,  have 
been  Edward  Kenneth  Daniels.  Mattison  Boyd  Jones,  Clem  L.  V. 
Moore,  Charles  Luther  Peckham,  David  George  Crofton.  Percy  J. 
Priaulx,  Daniel  Cam])bell.  and  George  U.  Moyse.  Roy  V.  Hogue  is 
the  present  Commander  and  Charles  C.  Rittenhouse.  Recorder.  Since 
the  organization  of  the  Commandery  it  has  lost  by  death  ten  of  its 
meml)ers,  six  of  whom  were  Charter  members. 
Glendale  Lodge,  U.  D. 

This  lodge  is  working  under  a  dispensation,  having  been  very 
recently  organized. 

Order  ok  De  Molay  for  Boys 

This  lodge  is  also  of  very  recent  origin,  and  is  being  sponsored 
by  Unity  Chapter  No.  116.  Royal  Arch  Masons. 

Glen  EvRiE  Cii.m'Ter,  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star,  No.  237 

Monday  evening,  January  15.  1906,  the  following  persons  assem- 
bled at  Palm  Villa,  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  H.  Imler,  on  West 
Park  Avenue  to  discuss  the  feasibility  of  organizing  a  Chapter  of  the 
Order  of  the  Eastern  Star.  William  A.  Thompson  was  then  Master 
of  Unity  Lodge  F.  and  A.  M. 

Frank  Albright  and  his  wife,  Agnes  Fiske  Albright,  William 
Malcolm,  secretary  of  Unity  Lodge,  and  his  wife.  Florence  Malcolm. 
Elizabeth  Moyse  and  Cora  Hickman.  Of  this  nuin1)er  there  were 
four  who  were  tnembers  of  the  Eastern  Star,  namely,  David  H. 
Imler  of  Ramona  Chapter  of  Colorado  Springs;  liis  wife.  Adelaide  H. 
Imler;  her  sister.  Miss  Cora  Hickman.  nieml)ers  of  Glen  Eyrie 
Chapter  of  Colorado  Springs.  Colorado,  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Moyse, 
member  of  a  California  Chapter.  Another  meeting  was  held  at  the 
same  place.  January  25.  1906.  when  Ren  B.  Cartwright,  past  patron 
of  Alhambra  Chapter  and  late  Grand  Patron  of  the  Grand  Chapter, 
State  of  California,  conferred  the  degrees  at  sight  on  William  A. 
Thompson,  Verne  Thompson,  Frank  E.  .\lbright.  Agnes  Fiske  Al- 
bright, W^illiam  Malcolm.  Florence  Malcolm.  Dan  Campbell,  Mar- 
garet   McPeak    Campbell,    Asa    Fanset.   Annie    Fanset   and    Wesley 


The  Elks  Club. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  261 

Bullis.  The  other  members  of  the  order  present,  were:  David  H. 
Imler.  Adelaide  H.  Imler,  Cora  Hickman.  Luella  Marden  Bullis, 
George  H.  Moyse  and  Elizabeth  Moyse. 

At  this  meeting  Miss  Cora  Hickman  was  elected  Worthy  Matron 
and  George  H.  Moyse.  Worthy  Patron;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Moyse,  Asso- 
ciate Matron;  Adelaide  H.  Imler.  Condnctress.  and  Florence  Malcolm, 
Associate  Conductress.  William  A.  Thompson  was  chosen  secretary 
and  served  as  such  until  Mrs.  Mary  Ogden  Ryan  was  initiated  and  she 
was  then  elected  secretary  of  the  new  Chapter.  Frank  Albright  was 
elected  Treasurer;  Agnes  .'Mbrifjht  was  chosen  as  Ruth;  Margaret 
Campbell.  Esther;  Verna  Thompson.  Martha;  Annie  Fanset,  Electa; 
David  H.  Imler.  Warder;  Dan  Campbell,  Chaplain;  Wesley  Bullis, 
Marshal;  Luella  Bullis,  organist,  and  William  Malcolm,  sentinel. 

The  name  Glen  Eyrie  was  chosen  in  recognition  of  the  Chapter 
in  Colorado  of  which  Mrs.  Imler  and  Miss  Hickman  were  members, 
having  demittcd  to  organize  the  new  Chapter  in  Glendale.  The 
Chapter  then  instituted  with  a  membership  of  17  now  has  an  enroll- 
ment of  over  300  members. 

Benevolent  .\nd  Protective  Order  of  Elks 

Glendale  Lodge  No.  1289  has  had  a  phenomenal  growth  with 
corresponding  prosperity  and  usefulness.  It  was  organized  October 
14,  1912.  meeting  in  the  Central  Building,  then  recently  completed, 
just  east  of  the  Pacific  Electric  buildins^  on  the  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Brand.  The  following  were  the  first  officers:  Peter  L.  Ferry, 
Exalted  Ruler;  Wm.  H.  West.  Leading  Knight;  H.  W.  Walker, 
Esteemed  Loval  Knight;  S.  C.  Packer.  Lecturer;  M.  E.  Hofer.  Sec- 
retary; Dr.  S.  A.  Pollack,  Inner  Guard;  F.  J.  Willett.  Tyler;  C.  II. 
Boyd.  Treasurer;  Dr.  H.  G.  Martin,  Esquire;  W.  M.  Kimball,  Chap- 
lain ;  F.  B.  McKenney.  D.  L.  Greffg.  E.  M.  Lynch.  Trustees. 

The  charter  members  numbered  twenty-eight  and  at  the  end 
of  the  lodge  year  the  number  had  increased  to  243.  March  31,  1913, 
John  W.  Lawson  became  Exalted  Ruler,  the  membership  growing 
during  that  year  to  419.  Under  the  leadership  of  Wm.  Herman  W'est, 
a  membership  of  500  was  attained  during  the  lodge  year  of  1914-1915. 
On  March  31,  1915.  S.  C.  Packer  became  Exalted  Ruler,  the  number 
of  members  at  the  close  of  the  year  being  592.  Geo.  H.  Melford  was 
Exalted  Ruler  for  the  year  beginning  March  31.  1916  and  the  number 
of  members  at  the  close  of  the  year  was  684.  March  31,  1917,  Albert 
D.  Pearce  became  Exalted  Ruler  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  there 
were  7^7  members. 

On  January  12.  1918,  the  lodge  moved  into  its  new  home  and 
on  the  fourteenth  the  first  meetinfj  was  held  in  the  new  quarters  with 
about  200  members  present.  The  grounds  for  the  new  building  were 
secured  in  1914  at  a  cost  of  about  $5,000.  The  financing  of  the  new 
structure  under  conditicms  existing  during  the  Great  War  period, 
was  a  serious  matter,  but  it  was  worked  out  in  a  most  successful 
manner  and  a  large  portion  of  the  debt  incurred  has  been  liquidated 
and  in  addition  the  lodge  has  secured  lots  in  the  rear  on  which  to 
make  extensions  as  necessary.     The  lodge   building  is  a  handsome 


262  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

three-stury  slrucliire  on  Culorado  Street,  east  of  Urand  Boulevard, 
an  ornament  to  the  neighborhood  and  in  every  way  adapted  to  the 
use  of  the  lodsje. 

Returning  to  the  figures  showing  the  phenomenal  growth  of  this 
order  in  Glendale,  the  follf)wing  are  presented:  Members  in  1919, 
763;  1920,  1045;  1921,  1539;  1922. 1554  and  on  February  1,  1923, 1620. 

Succeeding  Albert  D.  Pearce  as  Exalted  Ruler,  were  the  follow- 
ing: Bert  P.  Woodard.  1918;  Cameron  D.  Thom,  1919;  lohn  H. 
Fanset,  1920;  Alfred  F.  Priest,  1921;  Arthur  H.  Dibbern.  1922.  The 
activities  of  the  Elks  Lodge  in  the  matter  of  benevolences  is  not 
generally  advertised,  but  the  money  given  to  needy  subjects  in  any 
one  year  amounts  t<i  several  thousand  dollars,  and  it  is  distributed 
regardless  of  any  consideration  other  than  actual  human  need. 

Knights  of  Coiambus 

The  Glendale  Council  may  be  said  to  have  had  its  inception  in 
the  city  of  Whittier,  on  Sunday,  May  13,  1918,  on  which  day  a 
council  of  the  order  was  instituted  there.  There  were  present  Henry 
M.  Doll,  Sr.  and  Frederick  H.  Huesman,  pioneer  residents  of  Glen- 
dale, Imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  order  and  realizing  its  great  pos- 
sibilities for  service,  these  gentlemen  suggested  to  Hon.  Jos.  Scott 
and  Mr.  Joseph  Coyle  the  advisability  of  instituting  a  council  in 
Glendale.  These  gentlemen  promised  to  give  any  assistance  in  their 
power  and  the  Glendale  men  went  home  and  consulted  Father  O'Neill, 
Peter  L.  Ferry,  M.  J.  Brennan,  Will  Blackman,  Chas.  M.  Wood,  J. 
W.  Andre,  Leo  McMahon,  John  F.  Quinn,  J.  H.  Mellish,  Warren  H, 
Kerr,  A.  P.  McDonnell,  Jos.  H.  Folz,  Stephen  A.  Gavin,  and  Niles  K. 
Millen,  all  of  whom  were  members  of  various  councils  throughout 
the  country.  The  idea  appealed  favorably  to  all  and  steps  were  at 
once  taken  to  organize. 

The  charter  was  granted  and  on  September  29.  1918,  the  Council 
was  instituted  with  sixty-three  members,  in  the  Central  liuilding  on 
Broadway  east  of  Brand  Boulevard.  Preceding  the  initiatory  work 
a  Military  Mass  was  celebrated,  in  the  High  School,  in  the  presence 
of  several  thousand  people.  Prior  to  this  there  was  a  parade  of 
several  thousand  members  of  the  order  from  other  cities  of  .Southern 
California.  Ff)lIowing  the  above  ceremonies  a  banquet  was  tendered 
to  five  hundred  guests  at  the  Elks  Club  house  at  which  were  present 
city  officials  and  prominent  members  of  the  order  from  throughout 
the  state.  The  toastmaster  of  the  evening  was  Mr.  John  McGroarty; 
an  address  of  welcome  was  given  by  Mayor  George  B,  Woodberry  of 
Glendale,  other  speakers  being  Hon.  Jos.  Scott,  Hon.  Paul  J.  McCor- 
niick,  Mr.  W.  Jos.  Ford,  Rev.  Henry  Walsh,  S.  J.,  Chaplain  at  Ft. 
McArthur  and  Rev.  Chas.  Raley,  Chaplain  of  U.  S.  Navy  at  San 
Pedro.    Grace  was  said  by  Rev.  J.  S.  O'Neill. 

The  institution  of  this  council  taking  place  during  the  Great  W'ar 
raging  at  that  time,  the  details  of  the  celebration  were  of  a  military 
character.  One  thing  that  in  itself  tended  to  make  this  affair  a 
notable  success,  was  the  participation  of  city  officials,  the  members 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  263 

of  the  High  School  board  and  the  liberahty  of  the  Elks  Lodge  in  ten- 
dering their  hall  in  which  the  ceremonies  took  place. 

The  Grand  Knight  for  the  year  1919-1920  was  Mr.  Henry  Doll; 
for  1920-1921,  Mr.  H.  V.  Henry;  for  1921-1922.  Mr.  Leslie  F.  Wright 
of  San  Fernando.  California,  the  present  Grand  Knight  being  Mr. 
Harry  Girard. 

The  present  membership  has  passed  the  three  hundred  mark,  and 
the  Council  has  taken  an  active  interest  in  all  subjects  of  vital  interest 
to  the  welfare  of  the  City  of  Glendale.  The  unprecedented  growth  of 
the  Glendale  lodge  has  caused  its  fame  to  go  throughout  the  country 
and  it  has  achieved  the  ditsinction  of  being  alluded  to  as  "the  fastest 
growing  lodge  of  Knights  of  Columbus  in  the  fastest  growing  city  in 
America." 

I.  O.  O.  F. 

Glendale  Lodge,  388  was  instituted  January  26,  1901,  in  the  hall 
over  the  store  building  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue 
and  Third  Street.  There  were  seventeen  charter  members  whose 
names  follow:  F.  G.  Taylor.  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  Bailey  Hickman, 
Robert  Garrett,  Constantine  Haines,  Louis  A.  Catlin,  \Vm.  Nelson, 
Edw.  W.  Smith,  Elmer  Mitchell,  Edwin  Vawter.  John  D.  Bliss,  O.  E. 
Patterson,  H.  G.  Lyman,  Geo.  D.  Hale.  E.  W.  Richardson.  Geo.  W. 
Haskin.  Geo.  W.  Haskin  was  elected  the  first  Noble  Grand  and  F. 
G.  Taylor.  Vice  Grand,  with  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  Secretary. 

The  lodge,  being  one  of  the  first  fraternal  organizations  in  the 
valley,  was  very  successful.  In  July.  1008.  it  moved  to  quarters  in 
the  two-story  brick  building,  then  recently  erected  by  Dr.  L.  H. 
Hurtt  on  Broadway  opposite  the  City  Hall.  In  July,  1914,  the  lodge 
erected  a  two-story  brick  building  on  the  corner  of  Isabel  and  Third 
Streets  and  moved  into  its  own  quarters.  The  lodge  recently  disposed 
of  this  building  and  now  meets  at  201 -A  East  Broadway.  It  has  an 
active  membership  of  100.  The  following  are  officers:  Frank  Sulli- 
van, Noble  Grand;  Daniel  Hall,  Vice  Grand;  Alfred  Raines.  Corre- 
sponding Secretary;  Elmer  Brown.  Financial  Secretary;  Carl  Schwit- 
ters.  Treasurer. 

C.XRN.ATION    REBEK.AH    LoDC.E 

This  auxiliary  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  is  a  flourishing  organization  w  ith 
over  one  hundred  members,  meeting  on  the  first  and  third  Tuesday 
evenings  of  every  month.  The  following  are  officers:  Mrs.  Loretta 
Schwitters,  Noble  Grand;  Mrs.  Evelyn  Hall.  V^ice  Grand;  Mrs.  James 
McBryde,  Recording  Secretary;  Mrs.  Mabel  Goodfellow,  Financial 
Secretary;  Mrs.  Winnie  Hartley,  Treasurer. 

This  lodge  was  organized  in  1902  by  the  following  ladies: 
Mesdames  C.  E.  Patterson,  F.  G.  Taylor.  E.  W.  Richardson,  Harry 
Lyman,  E.  D.  Goode.  J.  F.  Mclntyre.  Mabel  Hunt,  Louise  Peck, 
Hattie  Smith.  Mrs.  Duncan. 

The  first  officers  were  the  following:  Mrs.  Cora  Taylor,  N.  G. ; 
Mrs.  Allie  Goode,  V.  C. ;  Louise  Peck.  Recorder;  Nina  Lyman,  Finan- 
cial Secretary;  Helen  Mathiesen,  Warden;  Hattie  Smith,  Conductor; 
Mrs.  Duncan,  Chaplain, 


264  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Knights  of  Pythias 

The  Glendale  Lodge,  K.  of  P.  was  organized  in  1909  in  the  hall 
of  the  brick  building  southeast  corner  of  Third  Street  and  Brand 
Boulevard,  which  had  recently  been  built  by  Cole  and  Damerell. 

The  first  officers  elected  were  the  following:  John  Collins,  Chan- 
cellor Commander;  Frank  Mitchell,  Vice  Chancellor;  Fred  Deal, 
Keeper  of  Records  and  Seal. 

The  lodge  now  meets  in  its  own  hall,  corner  of  Brand  Boule- 
vard and  Park  Avenue,  having  held  its  meetings  there  since  1916, 
when  the  Glendale  and  the  Tropico  lodges  were  consolidated.  The 
lodge  now  has  250  active  members.  Officers  at  the  present  time  are 
the  following:  B.  E.  Metzer,  Chancellor  Commander;  Robert  Ed- 
wards. Vice  Chancellor  Commander;  C.  E.  Rehberg.  Prelate;  Sam 
Brown.  Master  of  Work;  Frank  Peters,  Keeper  of  Records  and  Seal; 
James  Smith,  Master  of  Finance;  R.  Wright,  Master  of  Exchequer; 
C.  E.  George.  Inner  Guard;  Harold  Nicholson,  Outer  Guard;  C.  E. 
Valentine,  Trustee. 

Pythian  Sisters 

Pythian  Sisters,  the  women's  au.xiHary  in  the  Knights  of  Pythias 
lodge,  numbers  60  members  and  meets  at  the  lodge  rooms  the  nights 
of  the  first  and  third  Fridays.  Officers  for  1923  are  as  follows:  Mrs. 
Pauline  Doose,  Sitting  Past  Chief;  Mrs.  Rosella  JollifTe,  Most  Ex- 
cellent Chief;  Mrs.  Mable  King,  Excellent  Senior;  Mrs.  Melissa 
Dickson,  Excellent  Junior;  Mrs.  Laura  Chrisman.  Manager;  Mrs. 
Blanche  Wiilett,  Mistress  of  Finance;  Mrs.  Viola  Peters,  Records 
and  Correspondence;  Mrs.  Margaret  Higgard,  Protector;  Mrs.  Elsa 
St.  Clair,  Guard;  Mrs.  Lucy  Wilbur,  Installing  Officer,  and  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  ITaynes,  Musician. 

Good  Templars 

The  Independent  Order  of  Good  Templars  was  organized  in 
1891,  in  the  old  Cerritos  School  where  they  met  until  the  present 
G.  A.  R.  Hall  on  Glendale  was  built  by  them  in  1891-1892.  Later  a 
lodge  was  organized  in  Glendale  about  1911;  after  some  years  of 
more  or  less  disorganization,  the  two  lodges  consolidated  and  the 
present  organization  was  formed.  The  meetings  are  held  in  the 
homes.     William  K.  Wyckoflf  is  Chief  Templar. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  the  settlement,  this  organization 
was  the  only  fraternal  order  in  the  community  and  very  prosperous. 
Hon.  T.  D.  Kanouse,  who  had  occupied  several  high  positions  in 
the  order,  came  to  Glendale  in  1901,  and  with  his  family  resided  here 
for  several  years.  During  his  residence  here  he  was  the  head  of 
the  local  lodge,  occupying  official  positions  in  the  order  in  the  state 
at  the  same  time,  and  taking  a  great  interest  in  the  local  lodge  was 
the  leading  personality  in  all  its  activities.  Mr.  Kanouse  now  resides 
in  Los  Angeles. 

Modern  Woodmen  of  America 

The  Glendale  Camp,  No.  12886,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America 
numbers  an  active  membership  of  110.     Officers  for  1923  are:     Dr. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  265 

Bion  S.  Warner.  Consul;  Carol  L.  Hare,  Past  Consul;  Marvin  A. 
Bunting,  Adviser;  Charles  A.  Buntins:.  Banker;  I.  F.  LaRock, 
Escort;  A.  F.  Muske,  Watchman;  William  Griffin,  James  E.  Howes 
and  David  C.  Carney,  Trustees. 

The  Rov.m.  Xiii(".n»oR.s  of  America 

The  Royal  Neighbors  of  America,  auxiliary  to  the  Modern  Wood- 
men, was  organized  .August  of  1921  and  has  a  membership  of  sixty- 
three.  The  officers  for  1923  arc:  Mrs.  H.  I..  Hock,  Oracle;  Mrs.  Ida 
I. each,  Vice-Oracle,  and  Mrs.  Blanche  Ciemmell.  Recorder. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

WOMEN'S  CLUBS 

Tuesday  Afternoon  Club 

This  club  is  an  institution  of  which  Glendale  may  well  be  proud, 
and  without  invidious  comparison,  it  may  properly  and  truly  be  said 
that  it  is  the  foremost  of  the  local  women's  social  organizations. 

The  story  of  its  beginning  is  well  told  in  a  paper  read  by  Mrs. 
Philip  W.  Parker  at  a  meeting  of  the  club  on  Charter  Day,  November 
9,  1915.  Mrs.  Parker  tells  how  on  her  birthday,  January  9.  1898,  she 
entertained  at  a  social  gathering  a  party  of  lady  friends  at  her  home 
on  Belmont  Street  in  Glendale.  Those  present  were  the  following: 
Mrs.  Charles  Bogue,  Mrs.  Joseph  Banker,  Mrs.  \Vm.  DolofF,  Miss 
Judson  Harris,  Mrs.  John  Hobbs,  Mrs.  John  Holland,  Mrs.  Edward 
HoUenbeck,  Mrs.  Edith  Nourse.  Mrs.  Lew  Wardell.  Mrs.  Julia  White 
and  Mrs.  Mittie  Duncan  (Mrs.  Parker).  These  ladies  without  form- 
ing any  organization  at  that  time  continued  to  meet  from  house  to 
house  every  fortnight  for  five  or  six  years.  For  three  years  the 
club  got  along  without  by-laws  or  any  form  of  organization.  This 
condition  of  delightful  informality  could  not  last  forever  and  in  1904 
the  club  had  reached  that  point  in  its  evolution  that  a  Year  Book 
was  published  with  the  names  of  about  thirty  members  and  the  fol- 
lowing list  of  officers:  Mrs.  Frank  G.  Taylor,  President;  Mrs.  D.  W. 
Hunt,  Vice-President;  Mrs.  M.  W.  Lorbeer,  Secretary;  Mrs.  J.  M. 
Banker,  Treasurer. 

The  incorporation  of  the  club  took  place  November  10,  1908. 
Mr.  Edgar  Leavitt,  a  local  attorney,  prepared  the  papers  for  the 
organization  as  a  patriotic  service,  and  was  rewarded  by  being  made 
an  honorary  member,  continuing  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the  club 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  a  year  or  two  later.  The  Glendale  as 
it  existed  at  the  time  of  the  club's  beginning  in  1898,  is  glimpsed  in 
Mrs.  Parker's  paper  very  vividly  in  these  few  lines:  "A  community 
of  about  300  people,  with  Glendale  Avenue  and  Third  Street  the 
center.  No  gas  or  electric  lights,  electric  irons  or  electric  cars.  Not 
too  much  water.  Only  three  blocks  of  cement  sidewalk.  No  private 
telephones,  automobiles,  jitneys,  movies,  high  school  or  library. 
There  was  one  church,  a  livery  barn,  a  blacksmith  shop  and  a  meat 
market,  and  a  horseless  'Dummy'  by  which  one  could  keep  in  touch 
with  the  outside  world  if  one  cared  to." 

It  was  in  these  village-like  surroundings  that  the  inspiration  came 
to  two  women,  and  they  widows,  that  resulted  in  the  foundation  of 
the  flourishing  organization  of  women  which  today  in  a  city  of  over 
30,000  people,  continues  to  make  history.  The  Tuesday  Afternoon 
Club  at  this  time  has  about  700  members  and  i%  an  organization  of 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  267 

varied  activities.  It  has  reached  out  into  the  field  of  civic  and  philan- 
thropic activity,  holding  membership  in  the  following  bodies  of 
women  devoted  to  welfare  work :  Children's  Hospital,  Maternity 
Cottage,  Kings  Daughters'  Day  Nursery,  Florence  Crittenden  Home, 
Community  Welfare  Work. 

The  Club  had  the  good  fortune  to  invest  in  building  lots  at  a 
time  when  real  estate  was  quiescent,  and  the  advance  in  values  which 
began  about  three  years  ago,  was  taken  advantage  of  with  excellent 
judgment  and  property,  rated  lower  in  market  value  but  ccjually  well 
adapted  to  the  Club's  purpose  of  erecting  a  home,  was  secured,  the 
surplus  thus  acquired  enabling  the  organization  to  erect  a  building, 
now  nearing  completion,  which  will  cost  about  $100,000  and  stand 
as  a  monument  in  years  to  come  testifying  to  the  far-sightedness 
and  good  business  sense  of  this  woman's  organization. 

The  names  of  the  seven  directors  appearing  in  the  Articles  of 
Incorporation,  acting  for  the  first  year,  are  as  follows:  Mrs.  E.  W. 
Pack,  Mrs.  Alex  Mitchell,  Mrs.  [ohn  Parker.  Mrs.  C.  J.  Newcomb, 
Mrs.  Lillian  S.  Wells,  Mrs.  Ella"  C.  Witham.  Miss  Ruth  A.  Byram. 
The  officers  for  the  present  year  are  the  following :  Mrs.  Daniel 
Campbell,  President;  Mrs.  A.  H.  Montgomery,  First  Vice-President; 
Mrs.  C.  W.  Houston,  Second  Vice-President;  Mrs.  John  C.  Dunn, 
Recording  Secretary;  Mrs.  Frank  .\yars.  Corresponding  Secretary; 
Mrs.  M.  E.  Plasterer.  Treasurer. 

\\'oM.\x"s  CiiRisTi.\N  Temperance  Union 

The  national  organization  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  came  into  being  in  the  United  States  in  1874.  following  the 
Temperance  Crusade  of  1873-1874.  It  is  organized  in  every  state, 
territory  and  dependency  of  the  United  States  and  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  separate  organizations  among  the  colored  people.  It  is  in 
existence  in  over  forty  of  the  nations  of  the  world,  with  a  total  mem- 
bership of  one  million.  It  is  organized  for  service  under  .six  heads, 
viz.:  organization,  preventive,  educational,  evangelistic,  social,  legal. 

The  Glendale  branch  came  into  existence  in  1886.  Mrs.  Dr. 
Clark  was  president.  The  names  of  charter  members  do  not  seem  to 
be  of  record,  but  it  is  recorded  that  in  that  first  year  of  its  existence, 
the  local  organization  sent  two  members  as  delegates  to  a  convention 
at  San  Diego.  These  were  Mrs.  Jennie  E.  Clippinger  and  Miss 
Rachel  M.  Sherer.  Among  the  charter  members  still  surviving,  how- 
ever, may  be  mentioned  Mrs.  Hulda  M.  Byram.  Mrs.  Jennie  E.  Clip- 
pinger and  Mrs.  Minnie  Ayres.  The  organization  worked  very 
eflFectually  during  its  first  year  to  keep  saloons  out  of  Glendale  and  to 
its  efforts  in  that  direction  may  be  attributed  the  fact  that  none  ever 
succeeded  in  getting  established  in  the  city,  although  the  attempt 
was  made  in  that  direction  more  than  once. 

Reorganization  took  place  in  1905,  when  a  band  of  women  met 
in  the  Presbyterian  church  when  the  following  were  initiated  by  Mrs. 
Hester  Griffith,  of  Los  Angeles,  as  charter  members:  Mesdames 
Ayers,  Galloway,  Overton,  Brown,  Grant,  Hendershott,  Reynolds, 
Rich,    Hezmalhalch,   Knight,   Hober,   Fanset.   Williams  and   Wells; 


268  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Miss  Harris  and  Rev.  C.  R.  Nortun.  Mrs.  D.  F.  Hendershott  was 
made  president ;  Mrs.  W.  H.  Reynolds,  secretary,  and  Miss  Judson 
Harris,  corresponding  secretary ;  Mrs.  Mary  Grant,  treasurer. 

In  May  of  the  same  year.  Mrs.  Gulvin  succeeded  to  the  presi- 
dency' with  Mrs.  Hendershott  as  vice-president.  Mrs.  Gulvin  resigned 
in  1907  and  Mrs.  Hattie  Gaylord  was  elected  president  b\'  acclama- 
tion, retaining  the  office  for  seven  years.  Under  Mrs.  Gaylord's 
leadership,  with  the  help  of  faithful  co-workers,  much  excellent  work 
was  accomplished  and  the  membership  largely  increased.  One  thing 
accomplished  during  this  period,  was  the  placing  of  a  drinking  foun- 
tain at  the  corner  of  Glendale  Avenue  and  Broadway,  at  a  cost  of 
$200.  On  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  fountain.  Mrs.  Phelps, 
county  president,  made  an  address  and  the  fountain  was  accepted  by 
the  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  John  Robert  White.  Jr..  on 
behalf  of  the  city. 

In  1914,  Mrs.  Ruby  Jordan  Smart  succeeded  to  the  presidency. 
Mrs.  Smart  had  been  active  in  the  work  for  twelve  years,  having 
acted  as  state  secretary  in  South  Dakota  and  was  well  versed  in  the 
principles  and  methods  of  the  organization.  She  is  a  life  member  of 
the  World's  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  state  superintendent  of  Temperance  and 
Missions  and  World's  Work.  Mrs.  Smart  still  retains  her  position  as 
president  of  the  Glendale  branch  of  the  order.  Associated  with  her 
are  the  following  officers:  Mrs.  Edith  Dockeray.  Vice-President; 
Mrs.  C.  W.  Bacon,  Corresponding  Secretary;  Mrs.  R.  W.  Mottern. 
Recording  Secretary;  Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Thomas.  Treasurer;  Mrs.  Geo. 
Lemon.  Assistant  Treasurer.  The  churches  are  represented  through 
the  vice-presidents  as  follows:  Adventist,  Mrs.  I.  .A.  Ford;  Baptist. 
Mrs.  Katherine  Rowe;  Christian.  Mrs.  C.  W.  Bacon;  Congregational. 
Mrs.  Inez  Sipple;  Lutheran.  Mrs.  Ida  Elfstrom ;  Methodist.  Mrs.  T. 
L.  Brown;  First  Presbyterian.  Mrs.  J.  E.  Colvin;  Tropico  Presbyte- 
rian. Mrs.  L.  E.  Richardson ;  West  Glendale  Methodist.  Mrs.  Harley 
G.  Preston. 

The  enrolled  members  number  180.  The  county  president.  Mrs. 
Marie  M.  Yeoman,  is  a  resident  of  Glendale  and  a  valuable  co-worker 
with  the  local  organization.  During  recent  years  the  County  Con- 
vention has  been  held  in  Glendale  twice  and  in  May.  1922.  the  State 
Convention  was  entertained  for  five  days  in  Glendale  on  the  occasion 
of  its  fortieth  annual  meeting.  The  Union  has  always  been  active  in 
the  several  campaigns  to  "Make  California  Dry"  and  also  in  the 
long  contest  waged  in  favor  of  National  Prohibiti<jn.  Through  the 
"Do  Everything"  policy  of  the  organization,  the  local  W.  C.  T.  U.. 
not  only  has  temperance  been  a  special  object  for  consideration  and 
action,  but  all  other  social,  intellectual  and  moral  movements;  and 
the  constant  work  for  civic  betterment  has  had  the  active  support  of 
the   organization. 

During  the  world  war.  the  local  body  was  particularly  active  in 
working  with  the  Red  Cross  to  help  in  every  possible  way  the  "Boys 
Over  Yonder."  At  present  the  organization  is  exerting  every  energy 
to  make  successful  the  campaign  for  a  million  members  of  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  as  the  final  triumph  of  its  fiftieth  j^ear. 


CSLENDALK  AM)  VICINITY  269 

This  brief  sketch  of  this  s|)Ieiidid  organization  of  Christian 
women,  may  he  fitly  cUised  l)y  the  words  of  Miss  Anna  A.  Gordon, 
the  World  and  National  President : 

"It  is  a  sacred  privilege  to  count  one  in  the  ranks  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  ;  to  become  an  inheritor  of  its  radiant 
past,  a  participant  in  its  luminous  present  and  a  builder  in  its  bright- 
ening future." 

Till-:  Thursday  .'\fternoon   Ci.ri; 

The  Thursday  Afternoon  Club,  known  originally  as  the  Tropico 
Thursday  Afternoon  Club,  was  organized  January  11,  1906,  when  a 
group  of  women  met  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  John  Hobbs  on  South 
Central  Avenue  for  that  purpose  and,  with  Mrs,  A.  W.  Collins  jiresid- 
ing,  elected  the  following  officers:  Mrs.  John  A.  Logan,  President; 
Mrs,  W.  A.  Thompson,  Secretary;  Mrs.  J.  M.  W'ebster,  Treasurer. 

There  were  seventeen  charter  members.  The  meetings  were  held 
in  the  homes  of  the  members  on  the  first  and  third  Thursdays  of 
the  month. 

Although  the  object  of  the  organization  was  announced  as 
merely  cultural  and  social,  fr(jm  the  very  beginning  the  club  became 
a  factor  in  the  civic,  philanthropic  and  educational  life  of  their  com- 
munity and  to  the  original  announcement  of  the  object  of  the  organ- 
ization, "to  promote  the  mutual  interests  of  the  members,  intellectu- 
ally and  socially,"  with  propriety  might  be  added,  "and  to  work  for 
the  general  betterment  in  all  lines,  in  every  way." 

The  establishing  of  the  state  traveling  library  which  was  the 
nucleus  of  the  Tropico  City  library,  the  installation  of  the  drinking 
fountain  at  the  corner  of  Central  Avenue  and  San  Fernando  road,  and 
the  purchase  of  a  motion  picture  machine,  for  the  use  of  the  schools 
in  South  (ilendale,  are  among  iheir  contributions  to  the  communitv 
life. 

The  club  keeps  abreast  with  the  times,  the  open  forum  conducted 
once  a  month  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Jessie  A.  Russell,  offering 
an  opportunity  to  discuss  matters,  civic,  legislative  and  educational. 

Two  lots  are  owned  by  the  club  on  Cypress  .Street  near  Central 
Avenue  and  a  club  home  is  jjlanned  for  the  near  future.  At  present 
the  second  meeting  f)f  the  month  is  held  at  Mrs.  .\.  L.  Bancroft's, 
1423  South  Brand  and  the  first  meeting,  the  open  forum,  at  K.  P. 
hall,  ctirner  of  Park  and  Brand. 

The  membership  is  about  one  hundred.  The  officers  for  the 
present  year  are  Mrs.  W,  C.  Mabry.  President;  Mrs.  E,  V,  Bacon, 
First  Vice-President;  Mrs.  Kemi)er  Cani])bell,  Second  Vice-Presi- 
dent; Miss  Eva  Daniels,  Secretary;  Mrs.  Roy  Bancroft.  Correspond- 
ing Secretary,  and  Mrs.  S.  E.  Browne.  Treasurer. 

The  club  was  federated  in  October,  1906, 

The  p.  E.  O.  Chapters  in  Gi.enuai.e 
Years   ago   when   the   Glendale   Union    High    School    was   in   its 
infancy,  and  the  Tuesday  Afternoon  Club  a  very  youthful  women's 
organization,  the  first  chapter  of  the  P.  E.  O.  Sisterhood  in  Glendale 
was  formed. 


270  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

CHAPTER  L. 

At  the  home  of  Mrs.  George  U.  Moyse,  on  March  11,  1905. 
Chapter  L.  was  orgaiiized  by  the  State  Organizer  assisted  by  a  num- 
ber of  ladies  from  Los  Angeles  Chapters.  Mrs.  Anna  Goss,  and  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Emma  Burket.  having  brought  their  membership 
from  Iowa,  were  sponsors  for  the  Chapter,  and  there  were  ten  initi- 
ates :  Mesdames  F.  E.  Albright,  A.  L.  Bryant.  Frank  Campbell,  F. 
C.  Hezmakalch.  Melville  Lorber,  Geo.  U.  Moyse  and  C.  E.  Russell; 
Misses  Ednah  C.  Ballantyne,  Ruth  A.  Byram  and  Frances  Hender- 
shott.  Mrs.  Moyse  was  the  first  president.  Cha])ter  L.  has  always 
been  interested  in  philanthropy  in  our  midst,  or  in  the  broader  field 
outside  our  community,  helping  in  many  waj's.  Every  year  a  goodly 
sum  of  money  is  given  for  the  Educational  Fund  of  the  Supreme 
Chapter  which  is  used  for  girls  or  women  who  need  help,  to  obtain 
an  education  to  be  self-supporting.  The  meetings  and  programs  of 
Chapter  L.  are  as  varied  as  in  any  women's  club.  Their  meml^ership 
is  now  fifty. 

CH.\PTER  .'i.   H. 

Guided  by  the  State  Organizers  and  Chapter  L.  a  new  chapter 
was  formed  on  January  19.  1912,  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  John  A.  Logan. 
There  were  twelve  initiates,  and  the  new  chapter  was  to  be  known 
as  A.  H.,  with  Mrs.  J.  H.  Webster  as  the  first  president.  Chapter 
A.  H.  has  always  been  very  generous  in  her  philanthropic  work,  and 
has  exceptionally  attractive  programs.    Their  membership  is  now  37. 

CH.XPTF.R  B.  .\. 

Chapter  B.  A.  of  the  P.  E.  O.  was  organized  March  11,  1916.  at 
the  home  of  Mrs.  A.  W.  Tower,  by  Chapter  L.  under  the  leadership 
of  the  State  Organizer.  There  were  13  members  and  the  first  presi- 
dent was  Mrs.  Eva  J.  Cunningham.  There  are  now  33  members. 
Chapter  B.  A.  co-operates  with  the  other  Glendale  Chapters  in  work 
for  the  Welfare  Council,  True  Love  Home  in  Los  Angeles,  and  the 
educational  fund,  the  joint  work  of  all  P.  E.  O.  Chapters.  Besides 
this  they  have  their  own  private  charities  and  have  two  "Philan- 
thropic Days"  each  year,  also  two  "Ingathering  Days"  when  gar- 
ments, groceries  and  fruits  are  collected  for  those  less  fortunate. 

CHAPTER  c.  J. 

On  April  9.  1921,  many  of  the  P.  E.  O.'s  gathered  at  the  home 
of  Mrs.  A.  S.  Chase,  to  witness  the  forming  of  another  chapter.  The 
State  Organizer,  assisted  by  representatives  from  all  the  Glendale 
Chapters,  organized  Chapter  C.  J.  with  a  membership  of  14.  Mrs. 
Vernon  Putnam  was  the  first  president.  This  new  chapter  has  taken 
up  charitable  work  abreast  with  the  other  chapters  in  Glendale,  and 
has  her  study  program  as  well  as  her  social  affairs.  Their  member- 
ship is  16. 

The  P.  E.  O.  Sisterhood  is  not  fraternal  in  the  usual  sense  of 
the  word,  nor  is  it  subordinate  to  any  other  organization,  and  a  large 
membership  is  not  its  goal.     The  original  chapter  was  formed  over 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  271 

fifty  years  ago  in  a  college  in  Iowa  by  seven  girls  handed  together 
tor  pleasure,  study  and  service. 

Glendale  Federation  of  Parent-Teacher  Associations 

The  Glendale  Federation  of  Parent-Teacher  Associations  was 
originally  federated  February  18,  1910.  under  the  name  of  The  Glen- 
dale Union  Federation  Parent-Teacher  Associations,  composed  of 
the  whole  of  the  Glendale  Union  High  School  district,  which,  at  that 
time  included  Tropico,  Eagle  Rock,  I^a  Crescenta.  La  Canada,  Casa 
Verdugo.  West  Glendale.  Washington  Park  and  the  Glendale  Gram- 
mar School  districts,  owing  to  the  fact  that  all  the  districts,  with  the 
exception  of  Glendale,  were  in  unincorporated  territory.  The  federa- 
tion, for  the  first  two  years  of  its  existence,  acted  mostly  as  a  central 
point  of  information  and  in  an  advisory  capacity,  because,  organized 
as  it  was,  nothing  of  a  strictly  local  nature  to  Glendale  could  be 
endorsed  or  promoted,  as  the  other  districts  would  have  had  the 
right  to  the  same  backing  in  their  localities,  which  was  impractical. 

The  Executive  Board  was  representative  of  all  of  the  districts, 
and  the  bi-monthly  meetings  of  the  board  were  held  in  the  different 
localities.  Great  care  was  given  to  the  appointment  of  all  commit- 
tees in  order  that  due  recognition  might  be  given  each  school  during 
these  two  years.  Many  of  the  most  prominent  educators  in  Southern 
California  were  among  the  speakers  of  the  federation  programs,  in- 
cluding Dr.  E.  C.  Moore,  formerly  of  the  faculty  of  Yale  University, 
now  president  of  the  Southern  branch  of  the  University  of  California; 
Dr.  Thomas  B.  Stowell,  of  the  University  of  Southern  California; 
Judge  Frank  A.  Hutton  of  the  Superior  Court;  Judge  Curtis  D. 
Wilbur,  the  first  judge  of  the  Juvenile  Court;  Prof,  John  H.  Francis, 
then  superintendent  of  Los  Angeles  city  schools;  Prof  E.  C.  Lickley, 
supervisor  of  compulsory  education,  Los  .Angeles  city  schools,  and 
many  others.  The  federation  always  received  the  most  hearty  re- 
sponse from  musical,  dramatic  and  oratorical  entertainers,  never 
having  been  refused  any  assistance  within  their  power.  The  law  pro- 
viding for  the  public  use  of  the  school  building  had  not  yet  been 
enacted,  but  the  federation  at  all  times  was  given  the  most  loyal  sup- 
port by  the  various  school  boards  and  faculties. 

During  the  second  year  of  the  existence  of  the  federation,  Wash- 
ington Park  was  annexed  to  Los  Angeles,  Eagle  Rock  and  Tropico 
were  incorporated  as  sixth  class  cities,  and  West  Glendale  was 
annexed  to  Glendale;  and  so,  in  the  spring  of  1912,  the  federation  was 
reorganized  as  the  Glendale  Federation  of  the  Parent-Teacher  Asso- 
ciations. Much  merriment  was  apparent  at  the  federation  meeting 
which  planned  the  reorganization.  Because  of  the  unquestioned 
harmony  which  had  always  characterized  the  federation  meetings, 
Glendale  members  did  not  "wish  to  move  to  exclude  the  other  dis- 
trict"; nor  did  the  other  districts  wish  to  "move  to  leave  the  federa- 
tion." Finally  a  compromise  was  effected  by  a  most  diplomatic 
motion  made  by  one  of  the  outside  districts  and  seconded  by  another. 

The  year  of  1912-1913  was  the  first  year  of  what  is  now  the  Glen- 
dale Federation,  and  the  work  proceeded  mostly  along  the  line  of 


272  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

renrganization  and  careful  cciiisideration  of  policy  with  regard  to 
furthering  the  influence  of  the  federation  and  protecting  its  members 
from  complications  of  various  kinds,  for  this  was  the  first  year  that 
the  women  had  opportimity  to  exercise  their  right  of  suffrage.  How- 
ever, the  women,  as  members  of  this  organization,  never  had  cause 
to  regret  any  ill-advised  step  of  the  federation.  It  was  held  high  in 
the  community  as  strictly  a  non-partisan,  educational  and  civic  organ- 
ization. It  had,  since  its  inception,  held  the  highest  respect  and  confi- 
dence of  the  community  at  large.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  the 
federation  has  been  a  potent  factor  in  the  formation  of  a  broader  pub- 
lic opinion,  in  the  elimination  of  factional  differences,  and  in  the 
welding  together  of  all  forces  for  a  greater  city.  This  is  evidenced 
in  the  fact  that  when  any  project  of  civic  importance  is  contemplated 
the  federation  al\\a)'S  has  been  among  the  first  of  organizations  to  be 
formall)'  recognized. 

The  writer  wishes  that  space  would  permit  the  mention  by  name 
of  all  of  the  capable  women  who  were  the  pioneers  in  this  organiza- 
tion. To  them  is,  in  a  very  great  measure,  due  the  credit  for  the 
place  given  the  federation  in  this  community. 

The  dates  of  the  organization  of  the  various  Parent-Teacher 
Associations  are  as  follows:  Broadway,  April  2,  1909;  Columbus 
Avenue,  April  29.  1909;  Colorado  Boulevard,  May  14.  1909;  Wilson 
Avenue  Intermediate,  March  10,  1913;  High  School,  April  30,  1913; 
Acacia  Avenue.  September  30,  1915;  Pacific  Avenue,  March  24,  1915; 
Doran  Street.  March  4,  1915;  Magnolia,  May,  1921;  Cerritos,  (for- 
merly Tropico  School  District)  1901 ;  Glendale  Avenue  Intermediate, 
September,  1922.  and  Grandview,  September,  1922. 

The  presidents  who  were  serving  the  various  Parent-Teacher 
Associations  at  the  time  of  federation  were  as  follows :  Fourth 
Street  (now  Broadway)  School.  Mrs.  B.  H.  Nichols  (resigned),  and 
Mrs.  G.  B.  Mock;  Sixth  Street  School,  (now  Colorado  Boulevard 
School)  Dr.  Jessie  A.  Russell;  West  Glendale  School,  Mrs.  Alexander 
Mitchell. 

The  first  Federation  officers  elected  to  serve  were  Dr.  Jessie  A. 
Russell,  President;  Mrs.  E.  M.  McClure,  Vice-President;  Mrs.  J.  F. 
Padelford,  Secretary ;  Mrs.  Mary  Rehart,  Treasurer. 

The  schools  now  represented  in  this  organization  have  a  mem- 
bership of  2,800.  The  present  officers  are  as  follows :  Mrs.  Eustace 
B.  Moore,  President;  Mrs.  L.  T.  Rowley,  Vice-President;  Mrs. 
Percy  Priaulx,  Treasurer;  Mrs.  Leslie  Tronsier,  Secretary;  Mrs. 
Robert  Lord,  Corresponding  Secretary;  Mrs.  A.  L.  Morgan,  His- 
torian; Mrs.  H.  V.  Henry,  Auditor. 

Gleni).\i-e  Business  and  Professional  Women's  Club 

The  Glendale  Business  and  Professional  Women's  Club  had  its 
beginning  in  the  meeting  of  a  few  women  at  the  office  of  Dr.  Laura 
Brown,  October  6,  1921,  when  the  advisability  of  organizing  such  a 
club  was  discussed.  Dr.  Brown  was  made  temporary  chairman,  Miss 
Sara  Pollard   temporary  secretary,  and  a  committee  of  three,  com- 


(JLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  273 

l>osed  of  Miss  Margaret  Cross.  Mrs.  Margaret  D.  Higgs  and  Miss 
Sara  Pollard  wa.*;  appointed  to  fornuilate  a  constitution  and  by-laws. 

About  thirty-five  were  present  at  the  call  of  the  meeting  on 
October  l.S,  held  in  the  headquarters  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
when  the  constitution  was  adojited  and  officers  elected.  Since  that 
date  the  club  has  grown  steadil\'.  It  closed  its  charter  membership 
November  22  with  110.  Its  first  activitv  was  to  ])rom(>te  the  estab- 
lishment of  two  gymnasium  classes  in  the  High  School  "Gym"  for 
woinen  of  Glendale.  whether  they  were  employed  or  not. 

A  public  ban(|uet  at  which  covers  were  laid  for  200  was  given  in 
January.  1922,  in  the  banquet  hall  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  at 
which  plans  for  vocational  guidance  work  and  the  placement  bureau 
were  announced.  The  next  big  project  was  the  establishment  of  a 
club  home  in  an  apartment  at  2905j  South  Brand  Boulexard  to  serve 
as  a  rest  room  and  lunching  ]>lacc  for  members  and  their  guests  and 
meet  an  urgent  need  on  the  part  of  ])usiness  women  of  the  city  for 
a  social  rallying  place  for  mutual  benefit  and  advantage.  It  was  for 
the  maintenance  of  these  rooms  that  a  series  of  entertainments  were 
given  in  the  Spring  of  1922.  In  August,  1922,  the  headcpiarters  was 
moved  to  126  South  Maryland  .Street  and  a  clubhouse  established. 
The  club  has  grown  rapidly  and  has  now  a  membership  of  183. 

The  officers  elected  in  1921  were:  Mrs.  Margaret  I.  Biggs.  Pres- 
ident; Miss  Margaret  Gross,  \'ice-President ;  Dr.  Caroline  Paine 
Jackman.  Treasurer;  Miss  Neva  \'eyses.  Recording  Secretary,  and 
Miss  Sara  Pollard.  Corresponding  Secretar}'. 

The  officers  elected  for  1923  are:  Dr.  Laura  Brown.  President; 
Mrs.  Peggy  Warner,  Vice-President;  Mrs.  Anita  Anderson,  Trea- 
surer; Miss  Clara  Sayre.  Recording  Secretary,  and  Miss  Sara  Pollard. 
Corresponding  Secretary. 

College  Women's  CLtns  of  Glendale 

The  College  Women's  Club  was  organized  in  December.  1922. 
with  a  membership  of  about  eighty-five.  The  following  officers  were 
elected:  President,  Mrs.  A.  L.  Ferguson;  vice  president,  Mrs. 
Charles  A.  Barker;  recording  secretary,  Mrs.  Helen  ^loir;  treasurer, 
Mrs.  Max  L.  Green ;  parliamentarian.  Dr.  Jessie  A.  Russell ;  program 
chairman,  Mrs.  A.  W.  Tower;  publicity,  Mrs.  Paul  Webb;  member- 
ship, Mrs.  Frank  Parr;  scholarship,  Mrs.  A.  A.  Barton. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

OTHER  CLUBS.  ASSOCIATIONS.  ETC. 

Gleno.m.k  Music  Club 

This  club  was  organized  February  28,  1921.  in  the  music  room  of 
the  High  School  with  Mrs.  Mattison  B.  Jones,  chairman.  There  were 
fifteen  charter  members.  At  this  first  meeting,  by-laws  were  adopted, 
officers  elected  and  the  club  voted  to  join  the  state  federation,  all  in 
an  hour  and  fifteen  minutes.  The  following  officers  and  directors 
were  elected:  Mrs.  Mattison  B.  Jones,  president;  Mrs.  Catherine 
Shank,  vice  president;  Mrs.  Spencer  Robinson,  second  vice  president; 
Mrs.  L.  N.  Hagood.  secretary;  Mrs.  Charles  Marlinee,  corresponding 
secretary;  Mrs.  Warren  Roberts,  treasurer;  Mrs.  Vivian  Webb,  finan- 
cial secretary-;  Mr.  (Mayor)  Spencer  Robinson,  auditor.  Directors: 
Mrs.  Dora  Gibson,  Mrs.  Calvin  Whiting  and  Mrs.  Frank  .\rnold. 

Within  two  months  the  membership  had  reached  two  hundred 
and  at  present  the  total  enrollment,  including  the  Junior  and  Juvenile 
auxiliaries,  is  seven  hundred.  The  cluli  has  given  a  number  of  high 
class  concerts;  the  first  on  April  1,  1922,  was  an  All-.American  pro- 
gram given  b}'  Gertrude  Ross,  composer;  Jessie  McDonald  Patterson, 
vocalist  and  Mr.  .-Mexander  Saslavskj',  violinist.  Succeeding  enter- 
tainments given  by  the  club  have  been  well  uj)  ti>  the  standard  set 
by  the  first. 

The  Junior  Auxiliary  was  organized  .\pril  1,  1921.  at  the  home  of 
Mrs.  Spencer  Robinson,  first  director,  other  directors  being  Mrs.  Dora 
Gibson  and  S.  Gertrude  Champlain.  There  were  fifteen  charter  mem- 
bers of  this  auxiliary  which  now  has  a  membership  of  eighty-five. 

The  Juvenile  Auxiliary  was  formed  May  2,  1921,  at  the  home  of 
Mrs.  Frank  Arnold  with  Helen  Sternberg  as  president  under  the 
leadership  of  three  directors,  Mesdames  Frank  Arnold.  Eva  Cunning- 
ham and  Zula  Hapgood.  Charter  members  were  thirty-one  and  the 
present  membership  sixty-five.  Other  civic  organizations  have  united 
in  assisting  this  high  class  musical  club. 

Shrine  Club  of  Glrndale 
This  club  was  organized  December  1,  1921,  at  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  hall.  Noble  C.  E.  Neale  was  elected  president;  Julius 
Kranz  vice  president  and  James  Rhoades,  secretary,  .'\mong  the 
members  signing  the  roll,  numbering  in  all  eighty-two,  were  the  fol- 
lowing, who  constituted  the  various  committees:  Nobles,  Arthur 
Campbell,  Julius  Kranz,  A.  L.  Baird,  Robt.  R.  McKenzie,  Charles  R. 
Snider,  David  Crofton,  W.  S.  Rattray,  Edward  Waxman,  M.  M.  John- 
son, George  Moyse,  C.  C.  Rittenhouse,  John  Everson,  J.  J.  Burke, 
Alfred  Clark,  Dr.  H.  R.  Boyer,  W.  A.  Reynolds.    The  next  meeting 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  275 

of  the  club  was  held  January  4,  1922.  when  Noble  Dan  Campbell  was 
elected  treasurer  and  a  fine  entertainment  was  given.  From  that 
time  forward,  a  business  meeting  was  held  on  the  first  Wednesday  of 
every  month  and  once  every  month  the  club  enjoyed  a  ladies'  night, 
featured  either  by  a  banquet  or  ball. 

At  a  regular  meeting  held  in  May,  1922.  Noble  C.  K.  Neale  ])re- 
sented  his  resignation  and  Noble  Edwin  F.  Heisser  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  club.  Vice  President  Kranz  and  Secretary  Gartley  also 
resigned  and  Noble  Edwin  F.  Heissler  was  elected  president  and 
Noble  Charles  F.  Hahn.  secretary.  These  officers  functioned  during 
the  remainder  of  the  year  1922.  In  January.  1923.  D.  Ripley  Jackson 
was  elected  president ;  Charles  F.  Hahn  re-elected  secretar\-  and 
Noble  W.  A.  Reynolds,  vice  president.  The  office  i>f  treasurer  was 
combined  with  that  of  secretary.  The  social  activities  of  the  club  are 
one  of  its  chief  features,  being  partaken  of  by  members  and  their  ladies 
only. 

Glend.ale  Credit  Men's  Associ.vtion 

This  is  one  of  those  organizations  which  does  not  advertise  itself 
much,  but  keeps  on  doing  business  most  effectively.  It  was  organ- 
ized in  December.  1921,  and  has  for  members  over  a  hundred  of  Glen- 
dale  merchants  who  meet  every  Monday  noon  at  the  banquet  room  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  The  association  co-operates  with  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  other  local  civic  bodies,  the  members 
being  as  a  rule,  also  members  of  one  or  more  of  the  i>ther  ori^'ani- 
zations. 

The  first  secretary  and  organizer  was  Mr.  Frank  11.  Pilling,  who 
has  been  connected  with  similar  bodies  in  other  cities  for  several 
years,  and  was  selected  by  the  Glendale  association  because  of  his  ex- 
perience and  general  fitness.  The  object  of  the  association  is  to  keep  a 
credit  list  of  Glendale  people  and  although  only  in  e.xistence  a  little 
over  a  year,  it  has  already  nearly  10,000  ratings  on  file.  It  is  the  idea 
of  Mr.  Pilling  that  every  family  head,  upon  coming  into  Glendale  to 
reside,  should  report  to  the  association  as  to  their  financial  standing, 
so  that  the  record  may  be  available  when  needed.  These  associations 
are  not  only  a  great  help  to  the  merchants  of  Southern  California, 
enabling  them  to  find  out  by  inquiry  as  to  whether  persons  asking 
credit  should  be  given  it,  but  are  useful  to  the  individual  al.so,  particu- 
larly if  when  absent  from  his  home  city  he  can  refer  to  his  record 
that  is  on  file.  The  membership  list  is  growing  rapidly  and  the  goal 
towards  which  it  is  bending  its  efforts,  will  be  attained  when  every 
merchants  in  the  San  Fernando  X'alley  is  a  member. 

Officers  of  the  assc)ciation  are  the  following:  .\ttorney  Owen  C. 
Emery,  president;  H.  S.  Webb,  secretary  and  treasurer;  trustees, 
Owen  C.  Emery,  H.  S.  Webb.  Arthur  Parker,  W.  P.  Potter,  W.  H. 
Hooper.  Wm.  Moore  and  H.  M.  Butts. 

Rotary  Club  of  Gi.end.m.e 
The  founder  of  the  Rotary  Clubs  was  Paul  P.  Harris,  an  attorney 
of  Chicago.     It  is  an  organizatif)n  of  business  and  professional  men, 
with  membership  limited  to  one  representative  of  the  particular  line  of 


276  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

business  or  the  profession  in  which  he  is  en^agfed.  The  first  meeting 
of  the  original  club  was  held  on  February  23.  1905.  in  Chicago.  The 
name  was  suggested  by  the  meeting  of  the  club  in  the  different  places 
of  business  of  its  members.  The  headquarters  of  the  International 
Association  of  Rotary  Clubs  is  in  Chicago,  and  it  is  rapidly  extend- 
ing throughout  the  United  States  and  foreign  countries.  The  motto 
of  the  club  is  "Service  above  self;  he  profits  most  who  serves  best." 
The  Glendale  Club  came  into  being  January  4,  1921.  with  the  fol- 
lowing members :  C.  C.  Cooper,  president ;  Roy  L.  Kent,  vice  presi- 
dent; J.  Herbert  Smith,  secretary;  Richardson  D.  White,  treasurer; 
Owen  C.  Emery,  sergeant-at-arms;  \V.  A.  Tanner  and  W.  Edgar 
Hewitt.    At  present  the  club  members  number  thirty-five. 

White  Siiri.nk  of  Jeri'sai.e.m 

A  number  of  the  loyal  supporters  of  the  Order  of  Eastern  Star 
gathered  together  at  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Phillips  on 
March  9,  1922,  for  a  preliminary  meeting  to  make  plans  to  organize 
a  White  Shrine  of  Jerusalem,  with  the  result  that  on  March  29,  1922. 
Omar  Shrine.  No.  9  was  instituted  by  Artaban  Shrine  of  Pasadena. 
California. 

To  become  a  member  of  the  White  Shrine  of  Jerusalem,  one  must 
be  a  member  of  the  Order  of  Eastern  Star  in  good  standing.  The 
secret  work  of  the  order  is  very  inspiring  and  beautiful  but  the  socia- 
bility of  the  Shrine  is  much  enjoyed  by  all  its  members.  The  order 
is  closely  related  to  the  Masonic  orders  in  that  all  these  bodies  work 
together  in  case  of  want,  sickness  or  death  and  are  always  ready  to 
assist  in  time  of  need. 

A  very  beautiful  and  impressive  ceremony  of  installation  of  of- 
ficers was  held  on  July  19,  1922.  with  the  following  officers  placed  in 
the  chairs:  W.  H.  P.,  Orma  V.  Naudain;  W.  of  S..  E.  M.  Cutting; 
W.  P.,  Sarah  Carroll;  W.  C,  Eva  G.  Vesper;  W.  S.,  Fern  A.  Roberts; 
W.  G.,  Olga  C.  Bourne;  W.  H..  Mae  Warrick;  W.  O.,  Nana  K. 
Custer;  First  W.  M.,  Alvah  H.  Leland;  Second  W.  M.,  Warren  Q. 
Roberts;  Third  W.  M.,  Thos.  D.  Watson;  King.  B.  Frank  Bourne; 
Queen.  Sarah  Leland;  First  H.  M.,  Libbie  Cutting;  Second  H.  M.. 
fennie  Phillips;  Third  H.  M..  Valencia  Watson;  W.  G..  Gertrude 
"McMillan;  W.  G.,  Nellie  G.  Squier. 

The  year  922  was  a  very  prosperous  one  for  the  New  Shrine  as 
there  were  initiated  during  the  short  time  of  its  life,  thirty-seven  new 
members. 

The  Kiwanis  Club 

There  is  no  more  enterprising  civic  club  in  Glendale  than  the  local 
organization  of  Kiwanians.  Each  and  every  member  stands  for  pro- 
gressive movement  of  the  city — and,  although  organized  less  than  a 
year  ago  they  have  been  of  inestimable  value  in  promoting  civic 
affairs. 

The  officers  for  1923  are:  A.  L.  Ferguson,  president;  Herman 
Nelson,  first  vice  president;  Dr.  T.  C.  Young,  second  vice  president; 
D.  H.  Smith,  treasurer  and  Fred  Deal,  district  trustee.    The  following 


GLENDALE  AM)  VICINITY  277 

are  the  board  of  directors:  M.  B.  Towinaii,  O.  \V.  Aiulreaen.  Kay 
Hentley,  Dr.  Jack  Anderson,  Harry  Macliain.  \V.  H.  Reeves,  Bert 
['erry. 

Glendai.f.   Rkai.ty   Board 

The  Glendale  Realty  Board  is  one  of  the  progressive  factors  in 
the  development  of  the  community.  About  seventy  local  realtors  are 
members  of  this  assucialion.  They  feel  that  they  are  more  than  mere 
salesmen  and  agents  for  the  sale  of  property  and  take  a  personal 
pride  in  their  activities  because  they  realize  that  every  new  home  sold 
usually  means  a  more  contented  family.  They  have  been  instru- 
mental in  bringing  many  families  to  this  city  and  most  of  them  take 
personal  resp(msibility  in  the  fact  that  Glendale  is  "The  P'astest 
Growing  Cit}-  in  America." 

Cameron  Dellart  Thorn,  a  Glendale  pioneer,  who  was  one  of  the 
first  citizens  of  this  city  to  awake  to  its  possibilities,  is  the  president 
of  this  organization.     Its  secretary  is  E.  P.  Hayward. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associ.vrio.v 

The  Glendale  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  300  members  at  the  present  time, 
but  has  no  building  of  its  own.  The  young  men  meet  at  numerous 
places  around  the  city,  at  frequent  intervals,  and  their  activities  are 
extensive.  The  ortranization  is  divided  into  two  sections,  high  school 
and  junior. 

The  board  of  directors  number  the  following  seven  men:  David 
Black,  president;  C.  D.  Lusby,  treasurer;  Rex  C,  Kelly,  secretary; 
C.  W.  Ingledue,  H.  L.  Finlay,  W.  F.  Powers,  J.  S.  Thompson. 

Federated  BROTiiERHoon 

This  organization  is  composed  entirely  of  laymen  and  is  a  group 
composed  of  members  and  officers  of  ten  Protestant  churches  of  Glen- 
dale valley,  united  for  the  purpose  of  exerting  a  combined  effort  to 
achieve  higher  morals  and  civic  standards  in  the  city.  The  motto  of 
the  Federation  is  "A  clean  city,  kept  clean."  Membership  is  oyer 
2.000.  The  following  churches  comprise  this  organization  :  First 
Baptist,  Central  Christian,  Congregational,  First  M.  E.,  Casa  Ver- 
dugo  M.  E.,  Central  Avenue  M.  E.,  Pacific  Avenue  M.  E.,  South 
Glendale  M.  E.,  Presbyterian,  Tropico  Presbyterian. 

The  officers  are:  G.  D.  McDill,  president;  R.  F.  Kitterman,  first 
vice  president;  James  H.  Garnsey,  second  vice  president;  William  D. 
Kirk,  secretary;  George  F.  Daugherty,  treasurer. 

The  executive  committee  of  the  Federation  comprises  the  five 
oflficers  of  each  church,  plus  two  representatives  at  large  from  each, 
a  total  body  of  seventy  men. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  PROFESSIONS 

SOME  OF  THE  PIONEER  PHYSICIANS.  A  GLANCE  AT  THE 
LOCAL  MUSICIANS.  CARLYLE  PETERSILEA  AND  OTHERS  OF 
EARLIER  DAY.S.  THE  LEGAL  FRATERNITY.  PIONEER  LAWYERS. 
AND  SOME  OF  THE  PRESENT  ERA.  ONE  LOCAL  WRITER  ACHIEVES 
FAME. 

When  the  city  was  young  it  would  have  been  an  easy  matter  to 
have  covered  this  subject  with  an  individual  account  of  every  member 
of  the  ])rofessions  in  Glendale.  Among  its  population  of  nearly  forty 
thousand  at  present,  it  is  possible  to  speak  of  a  few  of  the  pioneers 
only,  and  refer  to  the  directory  for  the  others. 

Of  the  medical  fraternity  the  writer  recalls  Dr.  Moses  Chandler 
of  Tropico  who  arrived  there  about  1890.  Dr.  Chandler  was  a  physi- 
cian of  the  old  school  with  a  long  experience  in  his  profession  and 
being  well  advanced  in  years,  did  not  have  an  active  practice  although 
he  built  it  up  to  a  point  where  when  he  concluded  to  give  up  the  work. 
he  found  it  necessary  to  call  in  a  young  i)h3'sician  latelj'  graduated 
from  a  northern  college  to  take  care  of  his  clients.  This  young  man 
was  Dr.  A.  O.  Conrad  who  established  a  large  and  successful  practice 
in  the  neighborhood  and  later  removed  his  offices  to  Los  Angeles. 
Dr.  Conrad  was  early  attracted  to  the  use  of  the  X-Ray  in  the  use  of 
which  he  became  an  expert.    He  died  about  1918. 

.About  1895  Dr.  Eveleth  came  to  fJlendale  from  New  York.  He 
and  his  wife  became  important  personages  in  Glendale  social  circles 
and  the  doctor,  who  was  a  talented  and  highly  educated  man  became 
very   popular,   although   his  medical   practice   was   never  extensive. 

Dr.  C.  V.  Bogue  came  to  Glendale  for  his  health.  Dr.  Bogue  was 
a  physician  of  high  standing  and  a  surgeon  of  unusual  skill,  having 
come  from  a  large  practice  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  He  built  up  a 
good  practice  in  Glendale  and  was  active  in  community  work.  He 
lived  on  Wilson  Avenue,  corner  of  Belmont  Street.  He  became  an 
owner  of  Glendale  realty,  owning  for  several  years  the  southwest 
corner  of  Broadway  and  Glendale  Avenue. 

When  Dr.  Bogue  returned  to  Chicago  about  1901  he  sold  his 
home  and  his  practice  to  Dr.  D.  W.  Hunt  who  came  to  Glendale  from 
Redlands.  Dr.  Hunt  was  at  that  time  an  active  and  skillful  physician. 
He  entered  at  once  into  the  town's  activities,  becoming  the  president 
of  the  Improvement  Association,  and  was  one  of  the  effectual  workers 
who  secured  the  right  of  way  for  the  Pacific  Electric  railroad  when 
it  came  into  the  valley.  Dr.  Hunt  died  in  the  early  part  of  1922  at  his 
Glendale  home. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  279 

The  oldest  established  physician  in  Glendale  is  Dr.  Raymond  E. 
Chase,  who  came  to  Glendale  as  a  boy  with  his  parents  in  1884,  was 
educated  in  the  local  public  schools  and  received  his  medical  education 
in  the  University  of  California  and  its  affiliated  colleges,  graduating 
in  1901.  He  practiced  in  Los  Angeles  for  three  years  and  then 
opened  an  office  in  his  home  city  and  began  the  building  up  of  an 
ever  increasing  patronage  which  continues  to  the  present  time.  Dr. 
Chase  was  for  several  years  the  Health  Officer  of  Glendale. 

Dr.  A.  L.  Bryant  arrived  in  California  in  1903  and  after  a  short 
stay  in  Orange  county  came  to  Glendale  in  February,  1904,  and  has 
ever  since  been  engaged  with  marked  success  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  In  addition  to  his  professional  work,  he  has  been  active  in 
civic  affairs,  having  served  several  years  as  a  member  of  the  High 
School  Board  of  Trustees,  and  also  as  a  member  of  the  Library  Board. 

Dr.  Thos.  C.  Young  arrived  in  Glendale  from  Los  Angeles  and 
established  himself  in  an  office  in  the  two  story  brick  building  oppo- 
site the  City  Hall,  where  he  is  still  located,  in  August,  1909.  Al- 
though Dr.  Young  remains  in  his  original  location,  the  growth  of 
his  practice  has  led  to  greatly  enlarged  quarters. 

Dr.  Wm.  C.  Mabry  arrived  in  Tropico  in  September,  1912,  and 
began  his  professional  career  in  the  city  that  afterwards  became  a 
part  of  Glendale.  He  has  been  active  in  civic  aflfairs  and  was  for  a 
long  term  the  Health  officer  of  the  city  of  Tropico.  Dr.  Mabry  has 
been  very  successful  in  his  profession  and  is  active  in  the  building  up 
of  his  rapidly  increasing  patronage. 

Dr.  H.  R.  Boyer  came  to  Glendale  after  several  years  of  pro- 
fessional service  in  the  state  of  Maryland,  in  March,  1913.  He  has 
a  large  and  rapidly  increasing  practice,  and  is  prominent  in  civic 
affairs.  He  has  a  large  circle  of  friends,  particularly  among  fraternal 
orders. 

There  are  many  other  physicians  of  whom  it  may  be  said  that 
they  rank  high  in  their  profession  and  as  citizens  interested  in  help- 
ing to  build  on  a  firm  foundation  of  good  citizenship,  the  city  in  which 
they  have  cast  their  lot.  But  reference  to  the  recent  directory  dis- 
closes the  fact  that  they  are  over  fifty  in  number,  and  it  becomes 
necessary  to  close  the  record  of  this  most  honorable  profession  with 
the  names  above  mentioned,  of  pioneers  and  those  near  to  them. 


Glendale's  professors  of  the  musical  art  are  also  too  numerous  to 
mention,  but  the  daily  press  bears  testimony  in  almost  every  issue  as 
to  their  activity  and  to  the  high  quality  of  the  art  exhibited  in  the 
numerous  concerts  and  recitals  given  by  local  talent.  Like  the  artists 
of  the  theater  and  the  screen,  many  of  them  have  chosen  Glendale  as 
their  home,  and  in  addition  to  their  work  as  professionals  and  ama- 
teurs, they  play  a  loyal  part  in  the  building  of  the  city.  In  times  gone 
by,  there  were  a  few  talented  musicians  who  came  to  the  city  of  prom- 
ise as  it  then  was,  and  made  a  record  of  friendships  which  survived 
them  when  they  went  to  blend  their  voices  in  the  harmony  of  "The 
Choir  Invisible."    There  was  Professor  J.  E.  Fiske,  who  had  a  Los 


280  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Angeles  studio  where  he  taught  voice  expression,  but  who  in  the  early 
'90's  made  Glendale  his  home.  The  echf)es  of  his  rich  baritone  voice 
can  still  be  heard  by  those  who  at  that  time  listened  to  him  in  the 
Presbyterian  church  and  on  many  secular  occasion.s. 

About  the  same  time,  Carlyle  Petersilea  came  to  (ilendale  from 
Boston,  where  he  had  achieved  a  high  reputation  as  a  pianist,  l^eing 
the  author  of  a  method  of  teaching  as  well  as  a  performer  of  almost 
the  highest  rank.  He  was  generous  in  playing  for  local  entertain- 
ments, and  became  by  reason  of  his  personal  charm,  a  friend  of  all 
who  knew  him.  He  built  the  house  on  Windsor  Road,  just  east  of 
Thornycroft  Farm,  now  belonging  to  Mrs.  Greene. 

About  1910  Eugene  Noland,  a  talented  \'iolinist,  was  associated 
with  Fordyce  flunter  (another  fine  artist)  living  then  on  San  Rafael 
street,  and  in  addition  to  his  work  in  the  nearby  city,  found  time  to 
play  at  local  entertainments. 

To  attempt  to  name  any  of  the  many  fine  artists  who  are  now  cit- 
i;'.ens  of  Glendale,  would  lay  the  writer  open  to  the  charge  of  "invid- 
ious discrimination."  from  which  he  naturally  shrinks.  The  many 
associations  having  for  their  object  the  furtherance  of  the  musical 
art,  give  bright  promise  of  securing  for  Glendale  a  reputation  as  one 
of  the  few  musical  centers  of  the  Pacific  coast;  a  characterization  al- 
ready deserved,  if  not  achieved. 

In  literature,  at  least  one  of  Glendale's  citizens  has  recently 
achieved  fame,  and  that  is  Frederic  O'Brien,  whose  wife  remains  at 
their  home  on  South  Pacific  .\venue  while  the  husband  sails  the  South 
Seas  and  attends  to  the  publications  in  eastern  cities  of  the  books  that 
have  made  him  famous.  Mr.  O'Brien,  while  in  Glendale  some  years 
ago,  was  known  as  a  bright  newspaper  man  who  had  been  connected 
with  a  newspaper  in  Manila  and  told  interesting  stories  of  life  in  the 
lately  accpiired  possessions  of  Uncle  Sam.  He  took  a  lively  interest 
in  local  affairs  for  a  brief  period,  even  acting  for  a  short  time  as  one  of 
the  members  of  a  special  and  continuous  committee  that  labored  over 
the  water  question  before  (ilendale  finally  went  into  the  business  of 
munici]Kil  ownership  of  that  utility.  He  disappeared  in  the  middle  of 
that  committee's  labors,  to  go  adventuring,  as  the  result  of  which  he 
gave  the  world  that  fascinating  series  of  South  Sea  life,  beginning 
with  "White  Shadows  in  the  South  Seas." 

Lawyers  have  also  liecome  numerous,  so  that  mention  may  be 
made  of  only  a  few  of  them  who  were  in  the  city  in  the  days  of  its 
infancv.  Probably  the  best  known  and  one  of  the  most  ])opular  of 
these  is  Mr.  Mattison  B.  Jones  who  has  made  Glendale  his  home  for 
several  years.  Mr.  Jones  and  his  acconii)lished  wife  wlio  has  also 
achieved  a  wide  popularity  through  her  connection  with  Women's 
clubs  in  which  she  has  held  high  offices,  has  lately  completed  and  oc- 
cujjied  a  beautiful  home  on  Kenneth  Road,  but  the  family  was  for 
many  years  located  on  Orange  Street.  Mr.  Jones  is  favoraldy  known 
throughout  the  state  and  had  a  statewide  reputation  even  before  he 
became  the  candidate  of  the  democratic  ])arty  for  governor  at  the  last 
general  election. 

Mr.  P.  S.  McXutt  has  also  Ijecn  a  resident  of  Glendale  lor  many 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  281 

years.  He  maintained  uffices  in  Lds  Angeles  while  making  his  home 
in  Glendale  and  had  a  large  practice  up  to  the  time  that  a  severe 
physical  affliction  seized  him  and  compelled  him  to  retire  from  active 
practice.  Mr.  McXutt  and  his  wife,  who  is  well  known  in  club  circles 
and  civic  affairs,  reside  in  their  pleasant  home  in  Sycamore  Canyon. 

Mr.  N.  C.  Burch.  who  ])assed  away  about  five  years  ago,  was  a 
practicing  attorney  in  addition  to  his  many  other  activities,  having 
his  home  in  Tropicf)  and  maintaining  offices  in  Los  Angeles  a  portion 
of  the  time. 

Col.  Tom  C.  Thornton,  well  known  throughout  Southern  Cali- 
fornia as  a  brilliant  lawyer,  has  been  for  several  years  a  citizen  of 
Glendale  and  vicinity.  Col.  Thornton  was  at  one  time  (|uite  promi- 
nent in  city  alYairs  and  has  a  large  circle  of  friends. 

judge  Erskine  M.  Ross,  who  has  had  a  large  landed  interest  in 
Glendale  for  the  i)ast  fifty  years,  has  a  state-wide  reputation  as  an 
eminent  jurist,  having  been  on  the  Federal  bench  for  many  years. 
Judge  Ross  made  his  home  in  Glendale  for  several  years  in  the  early 
days  of  its  settlement  and  was  active  in  co-operation  with  its  pioneers 
in  working  out  civic  problems.  The  part  Judge  Ross  took  in  starting 
Glendale  on  its  forward  career,  is  told  elsewhere  in  this  history. 

Mr.  Hartley  Shaw,  now  City  .Attorney  of  Glendale,  has  a  large 
practice  in  the  Los  Angeles  courts  with  which  he  has  been  familiar 
for  many  years.  Mr.  Shaw  is  the  son  of  Judge  Lucien  Shaw,  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  California,  and  his  reputation  among  his  fellow 
lawyers  is  such  that  they  endorsed  him  unanimously  for  the  position 
of  Superior  Judge  when  he  aspired  to  that  position  a  few  years  ago. 

Mr.  W.  E.  Evans,  for  nine  or  ten  years  Glendale's  city  attorney, 
is  also  a  successful  attorney  and  a  po])ular  citizen.  Mr.  Evans  stands 
high  in  political  circles  and  is  looked  upon  as  likely  to  attain  to  an 
honorable  political  position,  should  he  decide  to  aspire  in  that 
direction. 

Mr.  Frank  L.  Muehlman,  also  a  former  city  attorney  and  a  trustee 
and  acting  mayor  as  well,  has  a  large  practice  and  is  looked  upon  as 
one  of  the  attorneys  who  are  destined  to  attain  high  place  in  the 
jirofession.  There  are  a  number  of  veterans  of  the  bar  who  have  re- 
cently made  Glendale  their  home  and  are  building  up  for  themselves 
an  enviable  record  in  their  profession.  There  are  al.so  several  others 
of  less  experience  who  have  made  rapid  progress  in  achieving  success 
in  the  honorable  profession  which  they  have  chosen. 

Glendale's  Thkatkicai.  Colony 

Glendale  jjoints  with  especial  pride  to  a  representative  group  ot 
devotees  and  professors  of  the  mimic  art  who  have  chosen  it  for  their 
home  and  have  taken  their  place  in  the  city's  activities.  Immediately 
after  the  advent  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railroad  in  1905,  a  few  of  these 
professionals  had  the  good  judgment  and  good  fortune  to  invest  in 
homes  in  the  city  and  in  some  cases  the  recent  rapid  advance  in  realty 
values  have  made  the  t)wners  inde])endent  of  any  further  necessity 
for  "grinding  toil." 


282  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

One  of  these  pioneers  was  that  veteran  of  the  stage,  Harry  Duf- 
field,  who  built  a  home  on  Lomita  Avenue  under  the  giant  eucalyp- 
tus trees  that  shade  that  avenue.  Mr.  Duffield  when  he  passed  away 
a  year  ago  had  an  unbroken  record  of  fifty-nine  years  of  popular 
service  before  the  public,  and  his  popularity  in  private  life  by  reason 
of  his  genial  disposition,  was  in  full  harmony  with  his  public  record. 

Among  the  other  noted  actors  who  came  to  Glendale  early  in  its 
history,  some  of  whom  have  gone  to  other  fields  of  action,  and  one 
or  two  of  whom  have  obeyed  the  Great  Prompter's  call,  may  be  men- 
tioned Harry  Mestayer,  Charles  Giblyn,  Henry  Stockbridge  and 
Harry  Glazier.  These  were  all  at  one  time  or  another,  members  of 
the  old  Burbank  stock  company. 

In  the  home  on  Lomita  Avenue  originally  occupied  by  Harry  S. 
Dufiield,  live  the  Neils,  James  Neil  and  Edith  Chapman  Neil  and  the 
brother  Edwin  Neil;  the  latter  for  many  years  treasurer  of  the  Mo- 
rosco  Theater.  Mr.  James  Neil  has  served  the  public  for  nearly  forty 
years  in  the  theaters  and  on  the  screen.  This  home  is  noted  for  its 
hospitality  which  has  been  shared  by  a  long  list  of  the  notables  of  the 
stage. 

Harry  Girard  and  his  wife,  Agnes  Cain  Brown,  both  with  a  long 
record  of  vocal  triumphs  in  operatic  circles,  bj'  generous  contributions 
to  local  calls  upon  their  talent,  have  achieved  an  enviable  measure  of 
popularity  in  the  city  they  have  adopted  for  their  home. 

George  Melford,  who  has  attained  a  high  rank  among  the  few 
thoroughly  successful  motion  picture  directors,  was  for  years  the 
manager  of  the  old  Kalem  company  at  its  studio  on  \'erdugo  Road 
and  was  a  resident  of  Glendale  at  that  time.  He  has  recently  moved 
to  Hollywood.  He  was  Exalted  Ruler  of  the  local  lodge  of  Elks  and 
made  many  friends  while  a  Glendale  resident. 

Among  new  comers  to  Glendale  are  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  Hol- 
lister.  Mrs.  Alice  Hollister  has  made  an  enviable  record  of  success 
in  character  roles;  while  Mr.  Hollister  is  an  artist  with  the  camera 
and  has  recently  assumed  the  management  of  the  theater  at  Eagle 
Rock. 

Mr.  Herbert  Fortie  who  lives  in  happy  domesticity  at  200  Chest- 
nut street,  is  a  veteran  of  the  theater  and  the  studio,  now  devoting 
himself  to  the  screen. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Landers  Stevens  of  North  Louise  Street,  were  for 
many  years  popular  members  of  the  Landers  Stevens  stock  company 
well  known  in  San  Francisco  and  the  other  cities  of  the  Bay,  and  are 
now  both  engaged  in  screen  work,  having  many  successes  to  their 
credit. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gilmore  Walker,  at  home  on  North  Columbus  .Ave- 
nue, both  enjoy  a  wide  measure  of  popularity.  Mr.  Walker  was  for 
many  years  an  actor  and  stage  director.  He  now  works  exclusively 
for  the  screen. 

Mr.  Lawrence  Underwood,  of  South  Everett  Street,  gave  up  the 
theater  a  dozen  years  ago  to  try  ranch  life,  but  has  recentlj'  returned 
to  his  first  love  and  is  engaged  in  a  Hollywood  studio. 

A  pioneer  of  the  motion  picture  industry  is  Frank  E.  Montgom- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  283 

ery,  the  first  manager  in  Glendale  of  the  Kalem  company.     He  is 
still  in  screen  work,  now  at  Hollywood. 

At  804  East  .-Xcacia  Street  reside  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ronald  Brad- 
bury. Mr.  Bradbury  is  a  successful  director  of  motion  pictures,  while 
two  clever  twin  sons  have  qualified  as  clever  children  of  the  screen. 

Another  veteran  of  the  stage  is  Will  M.  Chapman,  of  West  Doran 
Street,  who  has  successfully  transferred  his  talents  to  the  screen. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  DeGrasse.  he  is  a  descendant  of  that  French 
Admiral  who  assisted  the  colonists  during  the  revolutionary  war,  are 
both  engaged  in  screen  work,  Mr.  DeGrasse  being  a  director  of 
national  repute,  while  his  wife,  professionally  known  as  Ida  May 
Park,  is  a  well-known  writer  of  screen  drama. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Al  W.  Fremont  of  Lorraine  Street  are  both  actors 
of  many  years'  experience,  having  maintained  their  own  companies  on 
eastern  circuits.     Mr.  Fremont  is  actively  engaged  in  screen  work. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jack  Gardner,  of  Mountain  Street,  have  to  their 
credit  a  long  list  of  successes  in  theatrical  productions  and  in  vaude- 
ville. Mrs.  Gardner  is  known  to  the  stage  as  Louise  Dresser.  Both 
are  still  active  in  their  profession  and  their  home  attracts  many  pro- 
fessional friends. 

James  W.  Home  and  his  wife,  Cleo  Ridgely  reside  on  Valley 
View  Road.  He  is  well  known  as  a  successful  director  of  motion 
pictures  while  his  wife  is  one  of  the  important  figures  of  the  screen. 

Pearl  Keller  Brattain,  who  is  well  known  as  the  proprietor  of  the 
Pearl  Keller  School  of  Dancing  and  Dramatic  Art,  enjoyed  a  very  suc- 
cessful stage  career  for  several  years,  in  which  she  played  ingenue  and 
juvenile  leads,  before  coming  to  Glendale. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edmund  Kull  reside  on  San  Fernando  Road  near 
Colorado.  Mr.  Kull  is  a  master  of  the  camera  and  also  a  successful 
director,  being  engaged  at  present  with  the  Robertson-Cole  company 
as  camera  man. 

George  Larkin  and  wife,  of  South  Brand  Boulevard,  have  both 
secured  firm  hold  on  public  favor  in  film  representations  and  in  vau- 
deville, both  being  skillful  dancers  and  entertainers  of  originality. 

Thomas  Lingham  and  wife,  of  East  Acacia  Street,  both  devote 
themselves  to  the  motion  picture  art.  Mrs.  Lingham  is  known  to 
stage  and  screen  by  her  pre-marriage  name  of  Katherine  Goodrich. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willard  Louis  live  on  Valley  View.  Mr.  Louis 
brings  to  the  screen  work  a  long  experience  on  the  stage.  Recent 
patrons  of  the  Fairbanks  production  at  Hollywood  may  have  recog- 
nized him  as  the  rotund  jolly  Frair  Tuck. 

Harry  P.  McPherson,  who  makes  his  home  at  the  Elks  Club,  is 
connected  with  motion  pictures  as  actor  and  director. 

George  C.  Pierce,  of  West  Windsor  Road,  is  a  \eteran  of  both 
stage  and  screen,  with  a  long  and  successful  record  in  eastern  cities. 
Both  he  and  Mrs.  Pierce  are  now  engaged  in  productions  for  the 
screen. 

Mrs.  Jack  Frear,  formerly  connected  with  the  speaking  stage, 
specializing  successfully  in  "Little  Mother"  parts,  has  taken  to  film 
work  in  similar  characterizations  with  continued  success. 


284  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Mrs.  William  T.  Wallace,  formerly  known  to  the  stage  as  Georgia 
Woodthorpe,  attached  to  the  old  Alcazar  Theater,  San  Francisco,  is 
continuing  her  successful  career  in  the  moving  picture  field. 

Mr.  Richard  Pennell,  who  has  become  a  good  American  since  he 
foreswore  allegiance  to  King  George,  to  whom  he  bears  a  striking  re- 
semblance, when  not  engaged  in  studio  work  enjoys  a  fine  library 
which  he  has  collected,  in  his  home  on  Commercial  Street. 

John  J.  Tuohy  with  his  family,  occupies  the  house  on  Lomita 
Avenue,  formerly  belonging  to  Mr.  W.  C.  Stone,  the  theatrical  cos- 
tumer,  popular  with  the  professionals  whom  he  served  for  many 
years  before  his  death  which  occurred  five  or  six  years  ago.  Mr. 
Tuohy  is  engaged  in  motion  picture  work. 

Aside  from  the  above,  all  of  whom  are  still  connected  with  the 
stage  and  screen,  there  is  quite  a  numerous  body  of  retired  theatrical 
people  who  have  chosen  Glendale  as  their  home.  The  senior  and 
patriarch  of  this  group  is  Mr.  Albert  Fisher,  who  after  fifty-four 
years  of  professional  activity  has  settled  down  at  his  home  on  Salem 
Street.  His  wife,  Maggie  HoUoway  Fisher,  and  a  daughter  share  the 
home.  The  interesting  reminiscences  of  this  couple  of  past  professors 
of  their  chosen  art.  constitute  almost  a  complete  history  of  the  Eng- 
lish speaking  stage  for  half  a  century. 

Dr.  Raymond  E.  Chase  has  won  to  a  permanent  domesticity, 
Virginia  Edwards,  of  memory  most  agreeable  to  theatergoers.  Mrs. 
Chase  is  active  in  local  theatricals,  various  amateur  performances 
being  given  under  her  guidance. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Carrere  live  on  North  Louise  Street.  Mrs. 
Carrere  was  formerly  Edith  Cooper,  a  successful  ingenue  of  the  legit- 
imate stage.  She  is  a  sister  of  George  Cooper  Stevens  and  daughter 
of  Georgia  Woodthorpe,  well  known,  each  in  their  generation. 

In  their  West  Elk  Street  home,  Dan  Bruce  and  his  accomplished 
wife,  are  rearing  a  family  of  young  Americans  under  their  own  vine 
and  fig  tree.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bruce  were  favorites  in  the  mimic 
world. 

The  Edith  Woodthorpe.  long  prominent  in  Coast  theatricals,  is 
now  Mrs.  A.  T.  Dobson  of  Melrose  Avenue. 

One  of  the  best  known  of  Glendale  actors,  retired,  is  Mrs.  Fannie 
Stockbridge,  who  for  many  years  has  been  living  in  her  home  on  East 
Lomita  Avenue.  With  her  husband.  Harry  Stockbridge,  formerly 
the  comedian  at  the  Burbank  theater,  she  won  high  popular  favor  as 
a  character  actress. 

Young  Esther  Ralston  and  her  brother,  now  at  Hollywood  work- 
ing out  a  promising  career,  resided  in  Glendale  as  children. 

Tom  Mix  was  for  a  long  time  connected  with  the  Bachman 
studio  on  East  Windsor  Road.  His  headquarters  are  now  on  the  road 
to  Edendale,  across  the  river. 

Among  other  film  celebrities  who  in  times  past  made  Glendale 
their  home  and  have  sought  a  wider  field,  may  be  mentioned  Jack 
Hoxie  and  Marian  Sais,  who  were  located  on  Verdugo  Road  near 
the  southeast  city  limits.  Others  who  have  heard  and  responded  to 
the  call  of  the  east  are  Carlyle  Blackwell  and  Arthur  Sherry. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  285 

This  sketch  cannot  be  fitly  closed  without  a  brief  tribute  to  a  few 
members  of  the  theatrical  colony,  who  made  Glendale  their  home  for 
years  before  they  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  earthly  plaudits.  There 
was  William  Herman  West  who  died  August,  1915.  He  was  known 
as  "Billy"  to  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  admirers.  He  was  a  par- 
ticular favorite  in  the  Elks  Lodge  of  which  he  was  for  one  term  Ex- 
alted Ruler.  His  widow  still  living  in  Glendale  fell  heir  to  much  of 
her  husband's  popularity,  her  days  of  operatic  success  recalled  by  her 
songs  at  many  a  local  entertainment. 

Harry  Glazier,  St.,  responded  to  the  inevitable  call  nearly  twenty 
years  ago,  and  is  affectionately  remembered  by  many  old-timers.  His 
widow  and  son  reside  on  Windsor  Road. 

The  influenza  epidemic  claimed  for  one  of  its  victims,  William 
Wolpert  who  with  a  brilliant  theatrical  career  behind  him,  had  be- 
gun to  achieve  fame  in  motion  pictures  when  the  call  came  that  broke 
Bp  a  happy  Glendale  home. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

INTERVIEWS  AND  AFTERTHOUGHTS 
LITTLE  INTERVIEWS  WITH  OLD  SETTLERS 

Philip  W.  Parker 

One  of  Glendale's  most  enthusiastic  optimists  is  Philip  W. 
Parker,  and  his  opinions  are  worth  consideration  as  they  are  those 
of  a  man  who  has  had  rare  opportunities  for  witnessing  the  growth 
of  the  country,  through  a  long  life  beginning  across  the  ocean  in 
England.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1860.  just  before  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Civil  War  and  in  the  days  of  the  beginning  of  Chicago. 

"I  had  a  good  trade,"  said  Mr.  Parker,  "that  of  a  cooper,  and  had 
no  difficulty  in  securing  work  at  good  wages.  Talk  about  efficiency ; 
the  statistics  of  production  show  that  a  man  produces  twelve  and  a 
half  per  cent  more  at  any  given  trade  in  California  than  he  can  in  the 
east  under  less  favorable  weather  conditions.  In  my  own  experience 
I  remember  that  in  winter  time  back  in  Chicago  on  a  cold  morning 
I  would  go  to  work  but  couldn't  really  get  warmed  up  until  afternoon. 
We  worked  by  the  piece,  getting  a  dollar  seventy-five  for  making  a 
barrel  and  my  partner  and  I  would  make  two  barrels  apiece  and  call 
it  a  day. 

"I  was  in  Chicago  all  through  the  war.  After  the  war  the  gov- 
ernment sold  all  its  army  supplies  by  f)ffering  them  to  the  public  at 
all  the  principal  headquarters  and  there  were  great  opportunities  to 
pick  up  bargains.  I  got  hold  of  a  fine  driving  horse  and  I  tell  you  we 
had  some  lively  horse  races.  But  I  started  to  talk  about  real  estate. 
I  have  watched  Chicago  frt.m  the  day  I  left  there  until  now  and  am 
thoroughly  familiar  with  its  phenomenal  growth,  but  I  tell  you  that 
Chicago  was  never  in  it  with  Glendale  for  rapid  development.  Prices 
may  seem  high  here  now.  but  they  are  nothing  to  what  they  will  be. 

"I  noticed  the  other  day  a  sign  put  up  by  a  real  estate  dealer  fore- 
telling a  population  of  50.000  in  Glendale  in  1930,  but  I  tell  you  it  will 
be  double  that  figure,  Glendale  will  have  100,000  by  that  time.  We 
are  living  in  a  new  age ;  things  are  moving  faster  than  at  any  other 
period  in  the  world's  history  and  we  are  just  beginning  to  grow.  This 
part  of  California  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea  is  destined  to  be 
the  most  densely  populated  portion  of  the  globe.  It  is  the  pleasure 
ground  of  America;  not  only  that,  but  manufacturers  are  coming  here 
very  largely  because  of  what  I  told  you  a  moment  ago,  because  a 
man's  efficiency  is  at  its  greatest  here. 

"Now  about  prices.  Sixty  years  ago  in  Chicago,  they  thought 
a  thousand  dollars  per  front  foot  for  property  in  the  business  section 
was  more  than  it  was  worth,  arguing  that  the  most  valuable  realty  in 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  287 

America  was  only  bringing,  in  New  York  City,  $3,250  a  front  foot. 
Let  me  give  you  a  little  personal  experience:  I  came  to  Eagle  Rock 
thirty-five  years  ago,  buying  one-half  of  a  tract  of  154  acres  which  be; 
longed  to  Schumacher  Brothers  of  Los  Angeles.  They  sold  me  the 
east  half,  but  when  it  was  surveyed  it  was  found  that  a  little  canyon 
which  I  was  to  get,  with  a  small  stream  running  through  it  part  of  the 
year,  was  just  on  the  dividing  line.  So  it  was  agreed  that  1  get 
enough  on  the  west  half  to  allow  me  a  road  around  the  hill.  I  paid 
$2,000  for  the  property.  About  two  years  ago,  the  west  half  of  that 
property  was  sold  and  I  received  $2,500  for  my  interest  in  the  west 
half,  and  you  may  be  sure  they  were  glad  to  get  it  at  that  price  for 
they  were  receiving  $90,000  for  the  property. 

"When  I  first  knew  Glendale,  some  of  the  best  lots  in  the  town 
were  selling.or  could  be  bought,  for  fifty  dollars.  I  need  not  tell  you 
about  the  rapid  advance  in  values  here,  but  my  friend  Ed.  Goode  told 
me  the  other  day  that  he  was  offered  the  entire  block  between  Broad- 
way and  Harvard  and  between  Brand  and  Orange  for  $3,500.  This 
was  about  1904." 

Jose  Olivas 

"I  was  born  in  Los  Angeles  but  came  to  Glendale  to  live  in  1865. 
I  knew  Julio  Verdugo  and  family  well  as  I  was  at  their  house  a 
great  deal.  I  helped  take  care  of  them  when  they  had  small-po.x  in  the 
family  and  they  were  very  good  to  me.  Julio  was  a  little  short  man; 
he  wore  leggings  and  short  trousers  open  at  the  side  with  silver  but- 
tons and  looked  rather  queer  as  he  rode  on  a  big  black  horse  as  he 
did  every  day.  He  lived  at  the  house  on  the  hill  by  the  big  rock  east 
of  Verdugo  Road  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Glendale.  He  spent 
a  great  deal  of  his  time  taking  care  of  the  vineyard  on  the  west  side 
of  Verdugo,  on  the  piece  of  land  which  afterwards  belonged  to  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Chabolla  and  afterwards  passed  to  Frank  ITrquidez; 
was  sold  by  him  to  Mr.  Moore  and  by  him  to  the  Glendale  School 
district. 

"The  oldest  Verdugo  house  that  I  know  of  was  the  one  near  the 
corner  of  Pacific  .\venue  and  Kenneth  Road ;  the  ruins  were  there  not 
very  long  ago.  I  think  the  property  now  belongs  to  Mr.  Clements. 
When  a  boy,  my  chum  and  I  used  to  dig  there  after  night  for  buried 
money.  We  had  no  other  light  to  work  by  so  we  burned  pieces  of 
brea  and  after  we  had  worked  there  all  night  our  own  mothers 
wouldn't  know  us,  we  were  so  black.  No,  we  never  found  any  money; 
lots  of  people  were  digging  in  old  ruins  and  around  old  trees  in  those 
days  hoping  to  find  money  as  some  fellows  had  once  found  some  and 
that  led  others  to  think  it  was  buried  in  lots  of  places.  There  was  a 
large  oak  tree  standing  just  south  of  Mr.  Spencer  Robinson's  place 
west  of  Verdugo  Road  until  about  twenty  years  ago,  but  it  had  been 
dug  around  so  much  that  it  finally  died.  The  digging  was  all  done 
after  night;  guess  we  thought  it  was  better  luck  than  in  daylight. 
There  were  three  adobe  houses  along  the  foothills,  west  of  the  Thorn 
property,  the  first  was  the  Sepulveda  place,  used  a  few  years  ago  as 
the  'Casa  Verdugo  Restaurant';  then  came  the  one  built  by  Sheriff 


288  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Sanchez  and  the  third  was  the  old  Verdugo  house.  Then  there  was 
the  one.  still  standing  in  Verdugo  canyon,  and  there  was  another  in 
the  canyon  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  just  above  the  big  Glendale 
reservoir.  There  was  one  over  near  Garvanza  on  the  top  of  a  little 
hill.  They  raised  garbanzos  (beans)  there  and  from  that  came  the 
name  of  the  place. 

"We  used  to  build  houses  out  of  willows  and  tules.  There  was  a 
patch  of  tules  growing  on  the  east  side  of  V'erdugu  road,  now  the  'Sag- 
amore tract'  just  south  of  Glendale.  We  used  o.xen  in  those  days  and 
I  have  cause  to  remember  how  they  used  to  get  into  the  tules  and  lie 
down  and  hide  so  that  we  had  to  hunt  them.  The  la.'it  occupant  of  the 
adobe  house  on  Verdugo  road  was  Jose  Maria  Verdugo.  whom  we 
used  to  call  'General.'  He  left  there  about  twenty-five  years  ago  and 
went  to  San  Gabriel  where  he  was  killed  by  a  train  running  over  him. 
His  widow  still  lives  there.  Rafael  Verdugo.  a  son  of  Julio,  died  a 
few  months  ago;  he  was  very  old.  Mrs.  Chabolla.  who  still  lives  up  in 
the  canyon  is  about  100  years  old." 

Samuel  Hunter 

"My  father,  J.  D.  Hunter,  traded  the  first  brick  house  in  Los  An- 
geles, at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Spring  Streets,  for  2.700  acres  of  the 
Rancho  San  Rafael,  then  owned  by  Lewis  Granger,  a  lawyer,  who  got 
it  from  Verdugo.  This  was  about  1850.  We  moved  out  soon  after- 
wards and  lived  in  an  adobe  house  that  stood  near  the  site  of  the 
Washington  school  house  on  the  hill  near  the  corner  of  San  Fernando 
Road  and  Verdugo  Road.  We  lived  there  four  or  five  years  when  a 
new  house  was  built  down  near  the  river.  I  remember  seeing  Julio 
Verdugo  and  his  sons  riding  by  our  place  almost  every  day.  I  think 
they  lived  at  the  adobe  house  along  the  foothills  west  of  Casa  Ver- 
dugo, although  Julio  did  not  seem  to  stay  long  at  any  one  of  his 
houses. 

"As  far  as  I  can  recall  the  house  on  the  foothills  was  the  oldest 
of  their  residences.  There  was  an  adobe  on  a  little  hill  located  on  the 
property  now  belonging  to  Judge  Ross;  I  think  that  was  built  by 
Julio.  He  spent  considerable  time  at  the  adobe  on  Verdugo  Road,  on 
the  hill  now  in  the  southeast  part  of  Glendale.  I  think  he  died  there. 
The  adobe  houses  were  not  always  completed.  The  one  he  built  at 
Garvanza  never  had  any  roof  on  it  except  one  of  brush  or  willows. 
There  was  a  house  near  the  river  at  a  point  now  in  West  Glendale 
west  of  the  San  Fernando  Road.  The  Sanchez  family  had  an  adobe 
house  in  North  Glendale  and  a  great  many  fine  fruit  trees  which  were 
still  bearing  and  in  good  condition  when  the  property  was  sold  to 
Wicks  about  1881  or  1882.  They  had  a  very  loose  way  of  doing  busi- 
ness in  those  days  when  we  first  saw  the  valley.  Julio  Verdugo  would 
sell  a  piece  of  land  without  any  papers  passing.  He  and  the  other 
fellow  would  get  together  and  agree  that  the  land  sold  was  to  be  a 
certain  piece  bounded  by  a  line  running  from  a  tree  to  the  top  of  a 
hill  and  from  there  down  a  certain  canyon  and  thence  to  another  tree 
and  so  on.  They  piled  up  a  lot  of  trouble  for  the  people  who  came 
afterwards  and  were  more  particular,  but  for  the  time  it  worked  satis- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  289 

factorily  and  there  were  not  many  serious  disputes  over  property 
lines  until  the  lawyers  got  to  coming  in. 

"They  were  not  exciting  times,  although  of  course  there  was 
some  outlawry.  I  remember  \'asf|uez,  the  bandit,  very  well.  Except 
for  h!s  adventure  when  he  attem])ted  to  rob  Rapetto,  the  sheep  man, 
he  did  not  commit  many  depredations  in  this  section,  mostly  working 
up  north.  Rapetto  lived  out  on  the  Mission  road  between  Los  An- 
geles and  Pasadena.  One  day  V^asquez  and  some  of  his  companions 
rode  into  his  ranch  and  held  the  old  man  up.  demanding  money. 
When  he  told  them  he  had  none.  Vasquez  told  him  that  might  be  true, 
but  he  knew  that  he  had  plenty  in  the  bank  and  made  him  write  a 
check  on  the  Farmers  and  Merchants  Bank  in  Los  Angeles  and  send 
it  in  by  a  boy  while  they  waited  for  his  return  with  the  coin.  The 
boy  was  properly  scared  and  told  that  his  life  would  not  be  worth  a 
centavo  if  he  didn't  keep  his  mouth  shut  or  failed  to  bring  back  the 
money.  The  boy  meant  to  obey  orders  all  right  but  his  actions  at 
the  bank  were  so  suspicious  that  the  teller  thought  something  was 
wrong  and  notified  the  sheriff.  .K  posse  was  quickly  got  together  and 
followed  the  boy  who  had  been  given  a  portion  of  the  money.  Of 
course  Vasquez  was  watching  matters  closely.  The  boy  got  in  far 
enough  ahead  of  the  ofificers  to  deliver  a  small  amount  of  money,  said 
to  have  been  a  hundred  dollars,  to  the  bandit  who  with  his  compan- 
ions quickly  mounted  and  got  away.  Vasquez  was  as  mild  a  man- 
nered man  as  ever  cut  a  throat,  and  except  for  his  liking  for  other 
people's  money  and  his  manner  of  obtaining  it,  was  a  very  likeable 
fellow.  I've  seen  him  play  poker  many  a  night  at  Elizabeth  Lake 
when  I  was  ranching  there  along  about  1868.  He  was  a  good  sport 
all  right. 

"One  of  his  adventures  was  at  Coyote  Hole  up  on  the  Owens 
River  Valley  Road  near  Jaw  Bone  Canyon.  There  was  a  little  store 
and  a  sort  of  hotel  there.  A  party  of  about  fifteen  men  rode  into  the 
place  one  afternoon ;  some  of  them  were  peace  ofificers  who  would 
have  been  glad  to  have  a  chance  at  the  bandit  whose  fame  had  spread 
pretty  well  over  the  state.  Along  about  dusk  Vasquez  came  along 
with  one  of  his  men  and  without  letting  any  of  the  stage  party  know 
they  were  in  the  neighborhood,  took  advantage  of  the  travelers  being 
inside  the  store  and  unhitched  the  stage  horses,  or  found  others  in  the 
corral,  I'm  not  sure  which,  fastened  tin  cans  to  their  tails  and  turned 
them  loose  to  run  past  the  store.  The  racket  they  made  naturally 
brought  the  men  inside  the  house  to  the  outside  to  see  what  the  noise 
was.  The  bandits  then  rushed  into  the  store,  got  several  guns  the 
men  had  left  behind,  gathered  up  what  money  they  could  find,  and 
before  the  victims  knew  what  had  happened,  mounted  their  horses 
and  escaped  in  the  darkness,  firing  a  volley  as  they  went  to  impress 
the  party  with  the  idea  that  they  were  a  much  more  numerous  band 
than  they  were. 

"In  those  days  the  assessing  was  done  in  a  way  differing  as  much 
as  possible  from  present  day  methods.  There  was  a  deputy  assessor 
in  Los  Angeles  named  Mike  Madigan,  whose  business  it  was  to  ride 
over  the  country  and  do  the  assessing,  collect  poll  tax,  etc.     He  was 


290  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

a  sort  of  a  'wild  Irishman'  given  to  boasting  a  good  deal  in  his  con- 
versation. One  day  while  out  in  the  neighborhood  of  Elizabeth  Lake 
he  was  riding  along  the  road  when  he  fell  in  with  another  horseman 
traveling  in  the  same  direction.  They  very  naturally  got  into  con- 
versation and  quite  as  naturally  the  subject  of  their  talk  was  the  ex- 
ploits of  the  dreaded  highwayman  who  was  supposed  to  be  in  the 
neighborhood.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation  Madigan  expressed 
himself  very  freely  as  to  what  he  would  do  if  he  should  be  held  up  by 
Vasquez.  He  was  not  backward  about  speaking  of  his  courage  and 
was  quite  sure  that  if  the  occasion  offered  he  would  show  the  bandit 
that  he  had  a  right  good  gun  and  knew  how  to  use  it.  Presently  they 
came  to  a  cross  road  and  Madigan's  companion  said,  'Well  I'm  glad  I 
met  you  and  as  you  may  not  have  another  chance  to  assess  me  you 
had  better  do  it  now,  as  I  have  to  leave  you.'  Madigan  replied,  after 
getting  his  book  out  ready  to  perff)rm  his  duty,  'all  right,  what  is  your 
name?'  and  quite  pleasantly  the  other  answered,  'Tiburcio  Vasquez  at 
your  service.'  turned  and  rode  leisurely  away.  Mike  used  to  tell  the 
story  with  full  appreciation  of  the  joke  on  himself,  always  admitting, 
'Well,  he  didn't  shoot,  but  he  might  as  well  have  done  it  for  his  answer 
plum  knocked  me  out.'  Vasquez  was  captured  at  Cahuenga  a  year 
or  two  afterwards  by  Emil  Harris.  Billy  Rowland  and  some  other  of- 
ficers who  hid  themselves  in  a  wagon  covered  by  hay  and  surrounded 
a  cabin  in  which  he  was  visiting  his  sweetheart,  or  one  of  them.  I 
believe  he  was  hanged  at  San  Jose." 

Theodore  Kanouse 

"My  wife,  daughter,  son  and  self,  with  twenty-five  'standard  bred' 
Barred  Rocks,  two  cows  and  a  dog,  left  Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota, 
in  an  'Immigrant  Car'  shipped  for  Glendale,  California,  where  we  ar- 
rived on  Friday,  November  4,  1891.  Had  arranged  with  John  Hobbs. 
Elias  Ayers  and  Mr.  Stein  to  build  a  very  small,  but  fwhat  proved  to 
be)  pleasant  cottage,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  A  and  Sixth  Street 
where  the  preceding  year,  they  had  secured  ten  acres,  and  when  we 
reached  our  destination  we  found  the  foundation  laid  and  the  stud- 
ding being  set  up.  We  camped  with  Mr.  Ayers  for  a  few  days  until 
the  carpenters  had  the  roof  on,  by  virtue  of  urgency,  and  we  moved 
in,  locating  in  what  w^as  to  be  the  upper  story,  reached  by  a  tempor- 
ary ladder  for  a  stairway.  The  next  daj'  we  had  callers,  whose  errand 
was  to  welcome  us  as  citizens  of  the  then  sparsely  settled  but  prom- 
ising community  of  Glendale.  No  time  was  given  us  for  acclimation 
or  any  formal  reception,  but  characteristic  of  hospitable  frontier 
men  and  women,  we  were  made  to  feel  at  home  at  once. 

"We  set  about  cultivating  our  ten  acres,  putting  in  water  pipes 
and  setting  out  orange  trees,  buying  a  horse,  lumber  wagon,  surry,  a 
one  'hoss'  plow  and  cultivator,  and  began  life  on  the  pleasantest  little 
ranch  in  the.  to  us,  prettiest  valley  in  the  world.  We  were  all  soon 
at  work  in  Sunday  school,  church,  Good  Templar  lodge.  Kings 
Daughters,  G.  A.  R.,  etc.,  etc.  Everybody  was  kin  to  us,  and  our  lives 
were  'One  Sweet  Song.'  The  angel  of  us  all  left  us  for  the  'Better 
Land'  in  1904.  and  after  leaving  her  in  Evergreen'  the  broken  circle 
soon  came  to  Los  Angeles,  where  our  home  has  since  been." 


y. 


X 


o 
2 


■J 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  293 

George  Engelhardt 

Mr.  George  Engelhardt  came  to  Los  Angeles  in  1866  and  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  San  Rafael  previous  to  his  moving  out  to  the  Ver- 
dugo  Canyon  in  1882,  having  bought  about  140  acres  of  P.  Beaudry  in 
the  Verdugo  mountains,  building  on  the  extremity  of  a  point  of  hills 
overlooking  the  Canada  eastward.  Pio  Sepulveda's  mother  occupied 
the  "Sanchez  place"  when  Engelhardt  first  came  to  the  valley. 

He  was  road  overseer  for  the  Canada  district  and  built  the  grade 
around  the  hill  leading  up  the  canyon  after  the  lower  roadway  had 
been  washed  away.  The  county  afterwards  widened  the  roadway 
and  improved  it. 

He  was  school  trustee  of  the  old  Sepulveda  district,  serving  with 
J.  F.  Dunsmoor  and  H.  J.  Crow.  When  the  new  school  house  at  the 
"Sycamore  tree"  (Tropico)  was  built,  about  1882  or  1883,  the  old 
school  building  was  located  at  a  point  on  Verdugo  Road  on  land  now 
owned  by  G.  B.  Woodberry  just  below  the  old  reservoir  site.  Engel- 
hardt had  five  children  of  his  own  and  made  a  pact  with  the  trustees 
that  he  would  not  oppose  the  building  of  the  new  school  house  if  they 
would  agree  to  put  a  school  up  in  the  canyon  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  children  in  that  neighborhood,  the  other  trustees  agreeing  to 
the  proposition.  The  building  stood  on  that  location  until  the  La 
Canada  school  district  was  created  when  it  traveled  back  to  its  orig- 
inal location.  It  was  then  sold  to  Mr.  W.  G.  Watson  and  ended  up 
its  history  as  a  barn. 

Mr.  Engelhardt  moved  to  Santa  Monica  in  1^4  and  soon  after- 
wards entered  United  States  service  as  a  deputy  revenue  collector  at 
the  port  of  San  Pedro,  serving  until  he  was  retired  about  1920  after 
many  years  of  continuous  service. 

Frank  L.  Muehlman 

"My  earliest  knowledge  of  Glendale  was  in  the  Spring  of  1906. 
Our  family  removed  from  Los  Angeles  to  Glendale  in  the  fall  of  that 
year.  At  that  time  there  were  two  electric  lights  on  Brand  Boule- 
vard, one  on  Lomita  Avenue  and  one  on  Fourth  Street,  now  Broad- 
way. The  high  school  at  that  time  was  located  at  the  southeast  cor- 
ner of  Fourth  and  Brand.  This  was  later  sold  and  a  new  site  pur- 
chased where  the  present  high  school  now  stands.  The  only  building 
on  Brand  Boulevard  at  that  time,  so  far  as  I  recall,  was  the  Pacific 
Electric  depot,  which  was  recently  purchased  by  the  Security  Bank 
of  Los  Angeles.  There  were  no  homes  in  the  tract  known  as  the  Val- 
ley View  Tract,  located  west  of  Central  Avenue.  The  principal  ac- 
tivity in  building  at  that  time  was  on  Lomita  Avenue,  where  a  num- 
ber of  actors  had  purchased  lots  and  built  homes.  It  was  one  of  the 
best  known  residence  streets  in  Glendale.  Ezra  Parker  lived  at  or 
near  the  southeast  corner  of  Brand  and  Lomita  Avenue;  Joseph 
Kirkby  lived  opposite  him  on  Lomita,  and  Mr.  Goodell  was  living  in 
the  old  Goodell  home  on  Lomita  Avenue,  which  property  has  since 
been  purchased  by  the  Catholic  Church. 

"The  streets  of  Glendale  at  this  time  were  simply  sand  lots,  but 
the  Board  of  Trustees  soon  took  active  steps,  under  the  advice  of 


294  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Frederic  Baker  fat  that  time  city  attorney),  to  grade  and  oil  the 
streets,  and  in  a  few  years  Glendale  had  many  miles  of  what  is  known 
as  petrolithic  streets,  some  of  which  are  still  in  use,  and,  considering 
their  age,  in  pretty  good  condition. 

"Glendale's  boundaries  were  then  approximately  limited  to  Cen- 
tral Avenue  on  the  west.  Ninth  Street  on  the  south,  Doran  Street  on 
the  north  and  Verdugo  Road  on  the  east.  Tropico  was  not  incor- 
porated. There  were  four  water  companies  furnishing  water  to 
the  territory  that  is  now  within  the  limits  of  the  City  of  Glendale. 
There  was  no  gas,  and  electricity  was  furnished  by  a  small  com- 
pany that  required  payments  for  extensions  in  order  to  get  it  in- 
stalled.   This  had  the  effect  of  retarding  its  use  generally. 

"In  the  fall  of  1906  or  the  early  spring  of  1907  a  move  was  made 
by  some  parties  to  disincorporate  the  city.  This  was  decidedly  de- 
feated. After  that  the  city  began  to  take  on  new  life.  Later  a  bond 
issue  was  voted  to  install  a  municipal  lighting  plant  and  a  celebration 
was  had  after  the  lights  were  all  installed  to  commemorate  this 
achievement.  Much  civic  pride  became  manifest  about  this  time. 
An  association  was  organized,  the  moving  spirit  of  which  was  John 
W.  Usilton.  This  association  was  given  the  name  of  Glendale  Im- 
provement Association.  Meetings  were  held  regularly  and  annexa- 
tion of  additional  territory  became  the  watchword.  Barbecues  were 
given  for  several  years  in  the  month  of  May  to  encourage  people  to 
join  Glendale  and  much  public  spirit  was  shown  by  the  Glendale 
citizens  which  resulted  in  a  rapid  growth.  Many  of  the  leading  cit- 
izens of  the  Glendale  of  today  participated  in  these  movements  and 
have  lived  to  see  their  fondest  hopes  of  a  greater  city  realized.  Poli- 
tics from  the  partisan  standpoint  were  lost  sight  of  and  men  were 
chosen  for  office  purely  upon  their  civic  principles." 

Afterthoughts 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  first  settlers  along  Glendale  Ave- 
nue, but  in  looking  back  over  these  pages,  the  author  is  struck  by  a 
sense  of  incompleteness  in  the  list  of  these  pioneers.  Casting  his 
mental  vision  over  the  scene  as  he  remembers  it,  that  portion  of  Glen- 
dale Avenue  north  of  Ninth  Street  (Windsor  Road)  was  in  1883  and 
1884  peopled  as  follows :  On  the  northeast  corner  was  a  ten  acre  tract 
belonging  to  Mr.  J.  D.  Lindgren,  who  lived  with  his  family  on  the 
west  side  of  the  road  opposite.  Then  came  the  Chase  acreage  and 
the  house  they  occupied  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  about  Maple 
Street.  On  the  west  side,  opposite,  was  the  "Crow  Ranch"  with  no 
other  house  on  that  side  of  the  road  south  of  Fourth  Street  (Broad- 
way). Neither  was  there  another  house  north  of  the  Chase  place  until 
the  home  of  B.  F.  Patterson  was  encountered  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  Fourth  Street  and  the  avenue.  Then  came  the  Byram  home  on 
the  northeast  corner  of  Third  Street  and  the  avenue.  There  was  still 
no  house  on  the  west  side  of  the  road,  the  store  building  being  erected 
the  following  year  (1885).  Adjoining  Byram  on  the  north  was  the 
home  of  G.  W.  Phelon  who  sold  to  J.  F.  Jones  in  the  latter  part  of 
1884.     North  of  that  was  the  ten  acres  of  Captain  Ford  (later  the 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  295 

Leavitt  place),  who  was  killed  by  his  runaway  team  on  the  Downey 
Avenue  bridge  in  East  Los  Angeles.  Then  came  the  ten  acres  and 
the  home  of  S.  J.  Coleman  on  the  corner  of  what  is  now  Monterey 
Road.    From  such  small  beginnings  has  Glendale  grown. 


Here  is  the  close  of  the  Story  of  Glendale  up  to  the  first  day 
of  January,  1923,  as  told  by  the  present  writer.  A  very  beautiful 
custom  has  been  established  in  several  of  the  countries  engaged  as 
allies  in  the  struggle  for  civilization  during  the  late  great  war,  that 
is  the  burial  of  the  "Unknown  Hero"  with  all  the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance that  the  greatest  of  the  nations  can  show  to  the  heroic  dead, 
who  is  held  to  be  typical  of  the  thousands  of  others,  also  unknown, 
whose  graves  are  in  the  fields  of  France  and  elsewhere  where  the 
great  contest  left  its  dreadful  trophies.  And  the  writer  of  this  history, 
conscious  of  its  defects,  regrets  that  he  has  not  been  able  to  pay  a 
tribute  of  printed  words  to  the  many  of  Glendale's  builders,  who  aided 
by  unselfish  effort  the  laying  of  the  foundations  of  the  city. 

He  would,  therefore,  if  he  could,  raise  a  monument  to  the  "Un- 
known Builder,"  without  whose  efforts,  the  present  splendid  city 
would  never  have  risen  from  the  brush-covered  valley.  And  in  doing 
this  he  would  not  detract  in  any  respect  from  the  honor  due  the 
builders  of  today,  who  are  nobly  continuing  the  work  of  those  who 
have  gone  before ;  he  feels,  however,  that  the  historian  of  the  future 
from  his  more  lofty  viewpoint,  may  be  trusted  to  give  to  them  their 
meed  of  praise,  after  their  work  is  finished  and  the  Great  Architect 
who  plans  the  building  shall  have  pronounced  it  all  "Well  done." 


^'^'P-  /GjcyCctyycZ^^in^ 


BIOGRAPHIES 

William  C.  B.  Richardson.  The  name  Richardson  is  traceable 
back  to  the  Norman  conquest  and  is  an  example  of  the  most  common 
origin  of  surnames,  viz.,  the  addition  liy  the  eldest  male  of  the  suffix 
"son"  to  the  father's  name,  being  in  this  case  the  son  of  Richard. 
Richardson  is  said  to  have  been  a  common  name  among  the  Normans, 
and  in  fact,  to  have  been  exclusively  Norman,  so  that  there  is  no  room 
for  doubt  as  to  its  origin.  It  is  one  of  those  families  also,  of  which 
a  history  is  traceable  back  almost  to  its  beginning,  if  not  to  the  identi- 
cal individual  who  first  fastened  the  "son"  on  to  his  father's  name. 
It  is  said  that  the  name  is  common  to  almost  every  county  in  England, 
and  had  achieved  eminence  as  early  as  the  sixteenth  century.  One  of 
the  first  of  these  was  Samuel  Richardson,  the  English  novelist,  author 
of  "Pamela  or  Virtue  Rewarded,"  "Clarisse  Harlowe,"  and  "The  His- 
tory of  Sir  Charles  Grandison."  A  number  of  the  family  were  artists 
and  writers. 

Ezekiel  Richardson  came  to  America  with  Winthrop  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century  and  became  the  founder  of  Woburn,  Massa- 
chusetts. A  number  of  brothers  followed  shortly  thereafter  landing 
in  Virginia.  Capt.  Edward  Richardson  was  one  of  those  who  resisted 
the  English  at  Concord  and  served  all  through  the  revolution.  Sir 
John  Richardson,  who  died  in  1865,  was  a  noted  Arctic  explorer. 
Major  General  I.  B.  Richardson,  who  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point, 
made  a  record  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  was  killed  at  Antietam  in  the 
Civil  War  while  in  command  of  his  division.  Albert  D.  Richardson 
was  a  noted  newspaper  man  during  the  Civil  War,  and  the  author  of 
a  popular  work  on  western  life,  "Beyond  the  Mississippi." 

Wyman  Richardson,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  a  native  of  the  Granite  State  and  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  taking  active  part  in  many  engagements.  Hon. 
Elkanah  Richardson,  the  father,  was  reared  and  educated  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  subsequently  moved  to  Ohio,  becoming  a  pioneer  of 
that  state.  He  was  a  surveyor  by  profession,  and  in  pursuit  of  his  oc- 
cupation became  familiar  with  that  section  of  the  country  in  the  early 
days  of  its  history.  A  man  of  much  talent,  he  became  influential  in 
financial  business  and  legal  affairs  and  for  fourteen  years  served  as 
judge  of  the  Circuit  Court.  His  death  occurred  while  he  was  in  the 
prime  of  life,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  Sophia  Belding,  the  mother 
of  William  C.  B.  Richardson,  was  also  a  native  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  a  sister  of  William  C.  Beldiiig  who  was  killed  in  the  war  of  1812, 
and  for  whom  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  named. 

William  C.  B.  Richardson  was  born  in  Swanzey,  New  Hampshire, 
October  28,  1815.  He  was  taken  when  a  boy  by  his  parents  to  Ohio, 
where  he  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  Summit  county. 
From  his  father  he  learned  the  profession  of  surveyor,  and  followed 


302  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

it  for  forty  years  in  Cleveland  and  vicinity.  A  straightforward,  thor- 
ough-going business  man.  he  met  with  eminent  success  in  his  under- 
takings, acquiring  wealth  and  distinction.  He  served  two  terms  as  a 
member  of  the  Common  Crmncil  of  Cleveland,  and  was  a  prominent 
citizen  of  that  place  when  he  came  to  California  in  1868.  A  brother 
had  preceded  him  to  this  state  in  1849,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  send- 
ing back  glowing  accounts  of  the  El  Dorado  of  the  Pacific.  It  was 
therefore  but  natural  that  Mr.  Richardson  should  turn  to  California 
as  the  land  of  promise.  The  brothers  made  a  tour  of  the  state,  travel- 
ing as  every  one  did  at  that  time  on  horseback.  Mr.  Richardson  se- 
lected and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  containing  six  hundred  and 
seventy-one  acres,  lying  along  the  Los  Angeles  river,  extending  into 
what  is  now  Glendale  and  named  it  the  Santa  Eulalia  Ranch. 

Mr.  Richardson  returned  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  to  attend  to  his 
many  interests,  remaining  there  until  1880,  when  he  returned  to  the 
.Santa  Eulalia  Ranch  to  make  it  his  home.  In  1873  the  ranch  was 
placed  in  charge  of  Mr.  Richardson's  son,  Elkanah  W.,  who  in  a  few 
years'  time  had  the  ranch  stocked  with  several  thousand  head  of  sheep 
which  were  herded  on  it  and  adjoining  acreage.  Soon  after  the  ar- 
rival of  Mr.  Richardson  in  1880,  sheep  raising  was  given  up  and 
dairying  was  extensively  engaged  in.  Many  fruit  trees  were  set  out, 
and  in  1903  five  hundred  acres  were  given  over  to  about  one  hundred 
Japanese  for  the  cultivation  of  strawberries,  the  property  being  gen- 
erally improved,  giving  it  an  air  of  genuine  prosperity.  The  man- 
agement and  improvement  of  the  ranch  was  due  to  both  the  father 
and  the  son,  who  worked  and  planned  together  harmoniously. 

With  the  coming  of  the  Southern  Pacific  railroad  in  1872,  Mr. 
Richardson  gave  the  railroad  company  sixteen  acres  for  a  depot  site, 
and  when  the  Art  Tile  factory  was  promoted  in  1901  he  gave  the 
necessary  acreage  for  its  site,  besides  donating  a  site  for  the  Tropico 
Presbyterian  church  and  the  Cerritos  Street  school. 

At  Akron,  Ohio,  in  1838,  Mr.  Richardson  married  Sarah  Everett. 
who  passed  from  this  life  in  1895,  having  reached  her  seventy-sixth 
year.  Three  sons  arrived  at  years  of  maturity.  Omar  S.,  the  eldest 
and  only  one  living,  is  a  resident  of  Glendale;  Elkanah  \V.,  a  sketch 
of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume ;  and  Burt,  the  youngest, 
who  was  a  resident  of  Glendale  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1915.  Mr. 
Richardson  was  a  Mason  as  was  his  father  before  him.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Pioneer  Society,  and  the  Historical  Society,  of  Los 
Angeles  county.  Politically  he  was  a  republican,  although  while  in 
Los  Angeles  county  he  took  no  active  interest  in  politics.  His  death 
occurred  July  7,  1908,  while  in  his  ninety-fourth  year.  He  enjoyed 
life  to  the  last,  his  mind  remaining  clear  and  alert.  He  passed  away 
at  his  home  on  San  Fernando  Road  at  Cerritos  Street,  while  quietly 
resting,  his  demise  being  unobserved. 

Hon.  Cameron  Erskine  Tho.m  was  born  on  his  father's  plantation 
at  Berry  Hill,  Culpeper  county,  Virginia,  June  20,  1825.  His  father, 
John  Thorn,  was  a  soldier  of  distinction,  a  gentleman  and  a  scholar, 
as  well  as  a  statesman  of  marked  ability.     He  was  an  officer  in  the 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  303 

War  of  1812.  commanding  a  regiment  of  volunteers  throughout  the 
entire  period  of  military  activity.  For  thirty  years  he  served  in  the 
State  Legislature  as  Senator  and  upon  retiring  from  that  office  was 
commissioned  by  the  Governor,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Sen- 
ate, to  be  "High  Sheriff"  of  his  county  as  some  partial  compensation 
for  his  many  years  of  service  as  magistrate.  His  grandfather  was  a 
Scotchman  of  note  and  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Cullo- 
den,  fighting  under  the  banner  of  Prince  Charles  Edward,  the  Pre- 
tender Stuart,  who,  in  commemoration  of  his  great  valor,  jiresented 
him  with  a  gold  snuff  box. 

After  receiving  his  preliminary  education  in  private  schools, 
Captain  Thom  took  an  extensive  course  at  the  University  of  Virginia, 
including  law  in  all  of  its  branches,  receiving  a  license  to  practice  his 
profession  in  all  the  courts  of  his  native  state. 

The  call  of  the  West,  however,  was  ringing  throughout  the  land 
and  the  adventuresome  blood  of  military  forefathers  warmed  in  his 
veins  in  response.  In  1849  he  was  one  of  a  party  of  thirty  picked 
young  men  bound  for  the  Far  West,  the  enchanted  Land  of  Gold. 
The  party  was  well  equipped  for  its  trip  across  the  plains,  having 
riding  horses,  eight  wagons  drawn  by  mules,  plentj'  of  supplies,  and 
eight  negro  cooks  and  wagon  men.  They  were  in  no  hurry  and  took 
plenty  of  time,  finding,  as  they  did,  some  new  interest  and  adventure 
at  every  point  of  the  way.  They  stopped  wherever  fancy  dictated 
and  remained  as  long  as  they  pleased.  Their  first  stop  for  any  length 
of  time  was  at  Ash  Hollow,  Dakota,  where  they  spent  si.x  weeks 
with  the  Sioux.  A  thousand  Indians,  warriors  and  squaws,  were 
encamped  there,  and  the  young  men  from  Virginia  found  them  a 
noble  body  of  men.  even  hospitable  and  gentle  in  their  domestic  life, 
and  well  worth}'  of  consideration  and  study.  These  Indians  had  just 
come  from  a  great  battle,  or  rather  a  series  of  battles,  with  the  Paw- 
nees and  were  celebrating  their  victories  and  regaining  their  own 
wasted  strength.  Journeying  onward,  the  party  passed  many  herds  of 
buffalo  dotting  the  wild  plains,  now  and  then  pausing  long  enough  for 
an  exciting  chase.  They  arrived  at  Sacramento  late  in  November, 
and  there  the  part)-  disbanded,  scattering  over  the  new  country  as 
their  fancy  called,  a  majority  of  them  going  to  Rose's  Bar  on  the  Yuba 
river  where,  in  six  months,  most  of  them  succumbed  to  tj'phoid. 

Mr.  Thom  with  a  party  of  personal  friends,  engaged  in  mining  on 
the  south  fork  of  the  American  river,  also  on  Mormon  Island,  and 
later  in  Amador  county.  The  price  of  food  products  was  almost  pro- 
hibitive and,  although  wa.ges  were  high,  the  cost  of  living  was  so 
great  as  to  make  the  problem  of  a  livelihood  a  very  vital  one.  Po- 
tatoes, that  winter,  sold  as  high  as  five  dollars  a  pound,  while  salt 
beef  was  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  barrel,  with  other  things  in 
proportion.  Mining,  under  these  not  too  pleasant  conditions,  soon 
palled  upon  the  young  adventurer,  and  he  went  to  Sacramento  and 
o])ened  a  law  office.  He  l)ecanie  an  agent  for  the  firm  of  White  & 
Jennings,  a  lumber  and  general  merchandise  company  from  Oregon, 
on  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars  a  month,  his  chief  duties  being  the 
collection  of  their  rents  and  general  supervision  of  their  property. 


304  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

The  great  flood  of  the  Sacramento  valley  occurred  in  the  early 
'SO's  and  through  this  Mr.  Thorn  passed  with  many  thrilling  experi- 
ences, his  responsibility  for  the  White  &  Jennings  company  hold- 
ings adding  not  a  little  to  his  anxieties.  A  second  flood  was  more  dis- 
astrous to  his  comfort  than  the  first.  He  prospered  in  the  practice  of 
law  at  Sacramento  until  the  big  fire,  which  burned  most  of  the  city 
and  destroyed  his  library.  In  the  fall  of  1853  Mr.  Thorn  left  Sacra- 
mento having  received  an  appointment  as  assistant  law  agent  for  the 
United  States  Land  Company  in  San  Francisco,  where  he  had  super- 
vision over  twenty-five  clerks  and  draftsmen.  The  next  spring  he 
was  ordered  to  Los  Angeles  for  the  purpose  of  taking  testimony  in 
land  cases  before  Commissioner  George  Burrell.  That  work  finished 
he  resigned  from  the  government  position  and  was  appointed  by  the 
council  of  Los  Angeles  as  city  attorney,  and  by  the  supervisors  as 
district  attorney  to  fill  unexpired  terms.  Later  he  was  elected  dis- 
trict attorney  three  different  times,  after  which  followed  his  election 
by  a  large  majority  to  the  State  Senate. 

The  fighting  blood  of  Mr.  Thom  was  stirred  by  the  excitement 
of  the  Civil  War,  and  he  went  to  Virginia  and  offered  his  services 
to  the  Confederacy  at  Richmond,  volunteering  in  the  army  as  captain 
without  charge  to  the  government.  He  conscientiously  did  his  duty 
at  all  times  and  on  all  occasions.  He  was  paroled  at  Peterslnirg.  and 
returned  to  Los  Angeles,  where  he  was  confronted  with  the  statute  of 
the  state,  prohibiting  anj'one  from  practicing  his  profession  who  ac- 
tively sympathized  with  the  Confederacy.  He  had  lost  everything 
save  honor.  Shortly  after  his  plight  became  known  he  was  given  a 
pardon  from  President  Johnson,  but  by  whom  obtained  he  was  never 
able  to  learn.  His  name  was  all  the  recommendation  that  he  needed 
in  the  "Angel  City"  and  his  law  office  was  soon  doing  a  thriving 
business.  However,  his  services  were  needed  in  another  capacity 
and  he  found  himself  elected  mayor.  He  served  one  term  in  that 
capacity,  then  returned  to  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  gave  the 
necessary  attention  to  his  real  estate,  banking  and  other  interests. 

Being  a  firm  believer  in  a  big  future  for  Southern  California  it 
was  but  natural  that  he  should  invest  heavily  in  real  estate,  and  this 
he  did  with  wisdom  and  foresight.  In  1870  he  acquired  a  large  acre- 
age in  the  Rancho  San  Rafael  (now  Glendale)  and  a  few  years  later 
planted  an  orange  orchard  and  made  other  improvements.  Part  of 
this  property  he  disposed  of  to  his  nephew.  Judge  Erskine  M.  Ross, 
and  the  two.  besides  being  law  partners  for  many  years,  managed  their 
ranch  property,  to  a  considerable  extent,  in  common.  He  owned  a 
home  C)n  Main  Street,  corner  of  Third,  in  Los  .Xni^eles  up  to  the  time 
of  his  death  in  February,  1915.  Although  not  residing  on  his  ranch 
property,  he  kept  in  close  touch  with  the  develoimient  of  Glendale 
and  was  very  heavily  interested  financially  in  the  building  of  the 
Glendale  hotel,  the  construction  of  the  Salt  Lake  railroad  branch  be- 
tween Los  Angeles  and  Glendale,  and  other  enterprises  which  marked 
the  era  of  development  that  began  in  the  middle  '80"s.  When  the  bank 
of  Glendale  was  organized  in  1905  he  became  one  of  the  directors  and 
a  principal  stockholder,  taking  an  active  personal  interest  in  the  af- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  305 

fairs  of  that  institution.     Captain  Thom  enjoyed  the  distinction  of 
being  the  largest  individual  taxpayer     in  the  city  of  Glendale. 

Mr.  Thom  married  Belle  Hathwell,  who  is  now  a  resident  of  Los 
Angeles.  The  four  living  children  are:  Cameron  D..  of  Glendale; 
Catesby  C,  of  Los  Angeles;  Mrs.  .'\rthur  Collins,  of  London,  Eng- 
land ;  Erskine  P.  Thom,  of  Los  Angeles. 

Judge  Erskine  M.^Yo  Ross  was  one  of  the  first  Americans  to  ac- 
quire a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  valley,  and  in  connection  with  Capt. 
C.  E.  Thom  began  its  improvement  and  development.  In  1872  they 
set  out  orange  trees,  some  of  which  are  still  bearing.  This  was  the 
first  orange  grove  planted  on  the  Rancho  San  Raphael.  In  1883  he 
built  a  large  residence  on  the  ranch,  which  he  named  "Rossmoyne" 
and  made  it  his  home  for  many  years.  In  1883  the  Glendale  Hotel 
(now  the  Glendale  Sanitarium)  was  built  by  Judge  Ross,  Capt.  Thom 
and  H.  J.  Crow,  and  for  many  years  Judge  Ross  was  prominently 
identified  with  all  activities  for  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
community. 

Judge  Ross  is  a  Virginian  by  birth,  and  was  born  June  30,  1845, 
at  Belpre,  Culpeper  county,  a  son  of  William  Buckner  and  Elizabeth 
Mayo  (Thom)  Ross.  His  father  was  of  Scotch  ancestry  and  his 
mother  of  English  descent.  His  early  days  were  spent  with  his 
parents  at  their  home  which  was  called  Belpre  (Beautiful  .Meadows). 
The  first  school  he  attended  was  one  established  by  a  few  neighbors 
for  the  benefit  of  their  children.  Subsequently,  when  about  ten  years 
old,  he  went  to  a  military  school  at  Culpeper  Court  House,  where  he 
continued  most  of  the  time  until  the  summer  of  1860,  then  entering 
the  Virginia  Military  Institute — an  institute  modeled  after  West 
Point.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  corps  of  cadets  at  the  institute 
was  ordered  to  Camp  Lee.  at  Richmond,  which  it  reached  on  the  night 
of  the  day  Virginia  seceded.  The  corps  was  the  first  to  arrive  and 
the  cadets,  of  whom  Ross  was  one,  were  put  to  drilling  the  raw  re- 
cruits as  they  came  in.  Like  most  of  the  others  Ross  was  too  young 
to  be  mustered  into  the  army,  but  acted  as  lieutenant  in  various 
commands,  and  was  in  several  battles  with  the  Confederate  forces. 
In  1863  his  father  insisted  that  he  return  to  the  institute,  which  he 
did.  In  1864  the  Confederates  were  in  such  straits  that  the  corps  of 
cadets  was  again  called  out,  and  the  body  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
New  Market,  sustaining  a  loss  of  fifty-five  killed  and  wounded  out  of 
a  total  number  of  one  hundred  and  ninety.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
young  Ross  returned  to  the  institute  and  graduated  with  the  class 
of  1865. 

In  1868  he  came  to  Los  Angeles,  to  engage  in  the  study  of  law 
in  the  office  of  his  uncle,  Cameron  E.  Thom,  who  at  that  time  was  a 
leader  in  his  profession  in  the  city.  In  1869  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  and  in  1875  to  the  bar  of  the  .Sui)reme  Court  of  the  state.  In 
1879,  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  of  Cal- 
ifornia and  having  drawn  one  of  the  short  terms,  was  re-elected  for  a 
term  of  twelve  years.  In  1886  Judge  Ross  resigned  his  seat  on  the 
.•<ui)reme  bench,  his  resignation  taking  effect   October  first  of  that  year, 


306  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

and  resumed  the  practice  of  law  at  Los  Angfeles.  A  few  months  later 
he  was  appointed  by  President  Cleveland,  as  Jud,a:e  of  the  United 
States  District  Court  for  Southern  California,  then  lately  created. 
During  President  Cleveland's  second  term  he  was  appointed  United 
States  Circuit  Judge,  which  position  he  still  holds.  This  appointment, 
without  solicitation,  was  given  in  response  to  the  opinion  that  he  was 
the  man  for  the  place. 

Judge  Ross  has  always  stood  high  as  a  man.  as  a  lawyer,  and 
as  a  judge,  ile  has  that  sensitive  regard  for  justice  which  is  the 
crowning  virtue  of  a  judge,  and  without  which  no  justice  is  thor- 
oughly equipped,  however  learned  he  may  be  in  the  law.  or  how  bril- 
liant he  may  be  intellectually.  Judge  Ross"  record  on  the  supreme 
bench  of  the  state  was  most  important  to  the  people  of  Southern 
California,  because  of  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  vital  question 
of  water,  or  irrigation.  His  influence  with  his  brother  justices  in  these 
matters  was  e.xceedingly  valuable,  and  it  was  gratifying  to  him  to 
know  that  his  services  were  appreciated  by  the  people.  His  record 
for  thirty-six  years  as  United  States  Judge  has  justified  the  utmost 
confidence  of  the  legal  profession  and  the  general  public  as  to  his 
ability,  fairness  and  breadth  of  comprehension  in  handling  the  many 
matters  which  usually  come  before  this  court. 

He  still  owns  and  operates  his  ranch  property  on  North  Verdugo 
Road,  which  approximates  eleven  hundred  acres.  It  is  devoted  to 
citrus,  deciduous  fruits,  olives  and  general  farming.  The  ranch  has 
its  own  fruit  packing  plant  and  a  mill  for  the  making  of  olive  oil.  In 
politics  Judge  Ross  has  always  been  a  Democrat.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Greek 
letter  fraternity  Alpha  Tau  Omega.  Rev.  Otis  .Allen  Glazebrook, 
an  Episcopal  rector,  who  was  formerly  American  Consul  to  Syria, 
and  Capt.  Alfred  Marshall  were  the  other  founders.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Pacific  Union  Club  of  San  Francisco  and  the  California  Club 
of  Los  Angeles. 

At  San  Francisco  on  May  7.  1874,  Judge  Ross  married  Ynez  Han- 
nah Bettis.  They  became  the  parents  of  a  son,  Robert  Erskine  Ross, 
of  Los  Angeles.    Mrs.  Ross  died  in  1907. 

Ei-ns  T.  BvRAM  was  one  of  the  builders  of  Glendale;  one  of  the 
pioneers  who  found  here  a  section  of  beautiful  valley  covered  in  the 
most  part  with  growth  of  sage  brush  and  cactus,  and  when  called 
from  the  scene  of  his  many  years  of  active  up-building,  left  it  an 
ambitious  young  munici]Kility.  struggling  valiantly  to  make  good  the 
future,  for  which  he  and  a  few  others  had  laid  the  foundations. 

Ellis  T.  Byram  was  the  youngest  son  of  William  and  Abby  D. 
Byram,  and  was  born  January  8.  1839,  near  Liberty,  Union  county, 
Indiana.  He  was  of  Puritan  stock,  a  direct  descendant  of  John  Alden 
and  Priscilla  Mullen  Alden,  of  the  Mayflower  company.  William 
Byram  was  one  of  the  leading  men  in  his  section  of  the  state,  being 
county  treasurer  ior  several  years  and  prominent  in  the  Presbyterian 
church.  The  son.  Ellis,  received  a  fair  practical  education  in  the  com- 
inon  schools  of  his  native  town  and  during  his  minority  assisted  in  the 


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GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  309 

care  of  the  parental  homestead.  At  an  early  age  he  joined  the  Pres- 
byterian church  and  was  active  in  the  work  of  that  organization  until 
the  last  days  of  his  life.  In  1864  he  married  Huldah  Miller,  gaining 
a  help-meet  who  shared  in  all  of  his  useful  activities  and  who  has 
been  active  in  the  valuable  work  accomplished  by  the  women  of  Glen- 
dale,  particularly  during  the  early  days  of  its  history.  After  his  mar- 
riage Mr.  Byram  settled  down  as  a  farmer  for  a  while  and  then 
moved  his  family  to  Perry,  Iowa,  where  he  entered  into  the  hard- 
ware business. 

Mrs.  Byrani's  health  failing,  the  climate  of  California  was  recom- 
mended and  she,  with  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  came  to  Los  Angeles 
in  the  fall  of  1882.  Mr.  Byram.  with  the  other  son  and  older  daughter, 
joined  the  rest  of  the  family  in  the  spring  of  1883.  Mr.  Byram,  with 
B.  F.  Patterson  and  George  Phelon,  in  the  summer  of  1883,  purchased 
about  100  acres  of  the  Chikls  tract,  lying  on  the  east  side  of  Glendale 
Avenue,  subdividing  and  disposing  of  the  same  in  ten  acre  tracts, 
which  resulted  in  transforming  that  section  from  its  natural  condition 
into  pleasant  homes  surrounded  by  orchards  and  vineyards.  Mr. 
Byram  selected  a  home  site  near  the  upper  end  of  the  tract  on  Glen- 
dale Avenue,  building  one  of  the  first  two  story  houses  in  the  settle- 
ment, and  in  November  of  the  same  year  the  family  occupied  the 
new  home.  Near  the  home  site  then  was  a  clump  of  young  syca- 
mores, now  tall  trees.  The  improvements  made  on  the  Thom,  Ross 
and  Crow  properties  were,  at  that  time,  about  all  the  signs  of  home 
building  existing  north  of  San  Fernando  Road. 

From  that  time  forward  for  many  years  Mr.  Byram  was  a  prom- 
inent and  leading  spirit  in  every  movement  having  for  its  object  the 
upbuilding  of  the  community.  Such  projects  as  the  Glendale  Hotel 
(now  Sanitarium),  the  Salt  Lake  railroad,  the  Pacific  Flectric  rail- 
road, the  high  school,  the  public  schools,  the  churches,  the  \\ater 
companie.s — in  fact  everything  in  the  nature  of  public  welfare  work, 
requiring  the  expenditure  of  time,  energy  and  money,  had  Mr.  By- 
ram's  active  support.  To  all  of  them  he  contributed  more  than  his 
quota  as  a  citizen.  With  Capt.  C.  E.  Thom,  Judge  E.  M.  Ross,  H.  J. 
Crow  and  B.  F.  Patterson  he  formed  the  Verdugo  Springs  Water 
Company,  the  first  real  water  comjKiny  (owning  and  distributing 
water)  in  the  valley.  He  served  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of  this 
company  for  many  years.  He  was  also  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Bank  of  Glendale.  He  was  one  of  the  men  who  formed  the  "Glendale 
Townsite"  in  1887,  thus  putting  Glendale  on  the  map.  Politically,  he 
was  a  Republican,  casting  his  first  vote  for  Abraham  Lincoln.  He 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Glendale  in 
1884,  being  the  first  elder  and  serving  in  that  capacity  for  many  years. 
During  the  last  few  years  of  his  lite  his  activities  were  curtailed  by 
his  failing  eyesight,  but  even  with  this  handicap  he  maintained  his 
interest  in  and  contributed  his  influence  to  the  ailvancement  of  the 
community,  keeping  up  a  cheerful  mien  and  setting  an  example  of 
high  Christian  character  and  patience  under  severe  trial. 

Mr.  Byram  passed  from  this  life  on  May  30,  1908,  at  the  age  of 


310  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

sixty-nine.     A   man   loyal  in  friendship,  conscientious  in  service,  of 
genuine  manline.'^s  and  true  Christian  character. 

Mrs.  Hulda  B\'ram.  wife  of  Ellis  T.  Byratn,  one  of  the  oldest  of 
Glendale"s  pioneer  women,  at  all  times  an  efficient  helper  of  her 
husband  in  his  many  activities,  has  earned  on  her  account  much 
credit  for  public  work  for  the  community.  Having  preceded  her  hus- 
band til  Calilornia  by  a  few  months,  she  remained  in  Los  .'\ngeles  imtil 
the  other  members  of  the  family  arrived  a  few  months  later.  While 
there  she  helped  organize  the  first  \V.  C.  T.  U.  in  the  city  and  by  her 
letters  to  them  induced  Francis  Willard  and  Anna  Gordon  to  visit 
the  city  and  start  the  temperance  work  going.  Mrs.  Byram's  suc- 
cessful efforts  to  get  the  name  of  the  Glendale  postoffice  changed  to 
its  proper  designation  is  spoken  of  elsewhere.  .Mthough  handicapped 
by  deafness.  Mrs.  Byram  has  labored  with  great  efficiency  in  the 
church  and  temperance  organizations,  and  for  civic  betterment  during 
her  long  residence  in  Glendale. 

Spencer  Robinson,  Mayor  of  Glendale  and  a  prominent  realtor  of 
the  valley,  is  a  native  of  Illinois.  He  was  liorn  at  Rock  Island,  March 
11,  1868,  a  son  of  Dean  Tyler  and  Julia  (Spencer)  Roliinson.  He  is 
descended  on  both  his  father's  and  mother's  side  from  old  colonial 
families,  members  of  whom  were  soldiers  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
His  father  was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  his  mother  was  born  at  Rock 
Island,  Illinois.  His  grandfather,  John  Weston  Spencer,  with  Baily 
Davenport,  were  the  first  settlers  on  the  Mississippi  river  where  the 
city  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  is  now  located.  Mr.  Spencer  was  the  first 
county  judge  of  Rock  Island  county,  Illinois.  Dean  Tyler  Robinson 
was  a  prominent  citizen  of  Rock  Island,  where  he  conducted  a  retail 
lumber  yard  ffir  man}-  years.  Mrs.  Robinson  was  a  very  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Daughters  of  the  .American  Revolution,  being  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  chapter  at  Rock  Island,  Illinois. 

Mr.  Robinson  sup])lemented  his  high  school  education  by  taking  a 
genera!  course  at  Shortridge  Academj-,  Media,  Pennsylvania,  later 
graduating  frcmi  Lafayette  College,  Pennsylvania,  with  the  class  of 
1891.  He  was  a  traveling  salesman  fur  tlie  Rock  Island  Plow  Com- 
pany, covering  the  state  of  Iowa  until  1894,  when  he  began  his  career 
as  a  professional  singer.  Early  in  life  he  began  to  show  unusual  talent 
as  a  vocalist,  and  upon  reaching  manhood  developed  a  splendid  tenor 
voice.  He  studied  under  various  teachers  while  attending  college  in 
the  east,  and  later,  in  Chicago,  took  vocal  training  under  Professor 
Fred  Root.  From  1894  to  1912  he  devoted  his  time  to  his  profession, 
doing  both  concert  and  operatic  work.  During  the  latter  part  of  this 
time  he  also  taught  voice  culture.  He  made  several  trips  abroad, 
touring  the  British  Isles  and  Continental  Europe,  spending  much  time 
in  study  there.  His  first  trip  to  Southern  California  was  in  1900, 
when  he  was  engaged  by  Bob  Burdette  to  sing  at  the  old  Hazard 
Pavilion  on  Hill  Street  at  Sixth,  Los  .'\ngeles.  Later  he  sang  for 
Bishop  Robert  Mclntyre  and  Bishoj)  Charles  Edward  Locke  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Los  Angeles. 


GLENDAl.K  AM)  VICINITY  311 

Mr.  Robinson  came  to  Glendale  in  1906  and  has  since  resided  at 
1234  East  Windsor  Road  where  his  original  purchase  was  a  twelve- 
acre  tract.  He  has  since  purchased  additional  acreage,  much  of 
which  has  been  st)ld  for  residence  sites.  Since  1912  he  has  given 
practically  all  of  his  time  to  the  real  estate  business,  in  which  he  has 
been  very  successful.  His  office  is  at  612  East  Uroadway.  His  career 
as  a  public  official  began  in  1919,  when  he  was  elected  a  city  trustee. 
He  filled  that  office  until  he  was  elected  mayor  in  June,  1921.  thereby 
becoming  Glendale's  first  mayor  under  the  new  charter,  of  \\  hich  he 
was  an  ardent  su])porter.  Although  Mr.  Robinson  no  longer  sings 
as  a  professional,  his  readiness  to  aid  in  every  good  cause  that  makes 
a  call  ui)on  him  in  his  home  city,  has  made  him  a  favorite  entertainer 
and  his  voice  is  often  heard  in  concerts  and  entertainments  given 
for  charitable  and  other  worthy  public  objects.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  realty  board,  and  a  charter  member  of  the  Kiwanis  Club.  Fra- 
ternally, he  is  an  Elk. 

At  Friend,  Nebraska,  Mr.  Robinson  married  Bertha  Henrietta 
Sonntag.  They  have  three  children,  Julia,  Jean,  and  Dean  Tyler. 
Julia  is  a  graduate  of  Glendale  Union  High  school  and  is  now  taking 
voice  culture.  Jean  and  Dean  Tj-ler  are  pupils  of  high  and  grammar 
schools,  respectively.  Mrs.  Robinson  is  a  member  of  the  Tuesday 
Afternoon  Club,  and  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robinson  are  members  of  the 
Glendale  Music  Club, 

Samuki.  a.  Avrks,  who  passed  from  this  life  May  17,  1922,  was 
born  March  12,  1853,  at  Ft.  Madison,  Lee  county,  Iowa.  His  parents 
came  there  from  Connecticut  the  year  preceding  his  birth.  His 
father's  name  was  Ebeneezer  and  his  mother's  maiden  name  was 
Louisa  Anna  Overall.  He  attended  the  district  schools  until  the  age 
of  fourteen,  when  he  began  clerking  in  a  dry  goods  store  at  Musca- 
tine, Iowa.  Even  at  that  age  he  appreciated  what  education  would 
mean  in  his  future  so  set  to  work  valiantly  to  earn  money  to  pay  his 
way  through  Benton  Commercial  College.  This  took  time  and  cour- 
age as  he  also  had  to  pay  all  of  his  living  expenses  from  his  meager 
salary.  However,  he  finally  graduated,  and  obtained  a  position  as 
bookkeeper  for  Walker  Northrup  &  Chick,  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 
.\fter  a  short  stop  at  Ft.  Madison  he  comjileted  his  journey  to  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  wrote  asking  him  to  come  and  work  for  him.  He 
purchased  a  pony  and  started  overland  for  Ft.  Madison,  and  arrived 
there  after  a  difficult  journey  beset  with  adventure,  having  traded 
his  pony,  which  was  worn  out  from  the  effects  of  travel,  for  a  horse. 
.'\fter  a  short  stop  at  Ft.  Madison  he  completed  his  journey  to  Des 
Moines,  selling  his  horse,  when  within  twenty  miles  of  his  destina- 
tion, taking  a  note  in  payment.    This  note  was  never  paid. 

He  remained  with  Mr.  J.  V,.  Stewart  lor  a  year,  then  was  in- 
duced to  go  to  Council  Bluffs.  Iowa,  to  audit  the  books  of  a  bank. 
That  task  comjileted,  he  was  taken  to  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  by  George 
Weir  to  assist  in  organizing  and  opening  a  bank,  which  was  located  in 
a  log  building  and  did  business  under  the  firm  name  of  Wier,  Allison 
&  Company,     ^^'h^le  in  the  empio)-  of  the  bank  he  was  ai)proached  by 


312  GLEXDALE  AND  VICINITY 

a  man  who  had  $10,000.00  he  wished  to  invest  in  a  commercial  busi- 
ness. Desiring  the  service  of  Mr.  Ayres.  he  offered  him  a  $1,000.00 
share  in  the  business,  whieh  offer  was  gladly  accepted.  Soon  after 
the  business  had  gotten  nicely  under  way  his  ])artner  took  to  drink- 
ing heavily.  This  so  disgusted  Mr.  Ayres  that  he  proceeded  to  get 
his  money  out  of  the  business  and  had  just  succeeded  when  the  place 
]>urned  to  the  ground  and  on  wliich  no  insurance  was  collected. 

Mr.  Ayres  then  enlisted  in  the  Union  army,  was  sent  to  Jefferson 
City,  Missouri,  equipped  for  service  and  sent  on  a  forced  march  which 
completely  exhausted  him,  necessitating  his  being  sent  to  a  hospital 
from  which  he  was  discharged  eight  months  later  as  permanently  dis- 
abled for  military  duty.  Returning  to  Des  Moines,  he  became  a 
deputy  auditor  in  the  state  auditor's  (jffice,  and  a  few  years  later  was 
made  chief  deputy  auditor.  These  ]>ositions  he  filled  through  the 
successive  terms  of  the  different  state  auditors  for  thirteen  years. 
In  February,  1874,  because  of  ill  health,  he  resigned  from  his  position 
in  the  state  house  and  went  to  South  Sioux  City,  Nebraska,  to  re- 
side on  land  he  had  pre-empted  while  in  the  emploj'  of  the  bank  in 
Sioux  City,  Iowa.  He  remained  there  only  a  few  years,  then  return- 
ing to  Des  Moines,  opened  up  a  large  china  and  silverware  business 
which  he  conducted  until  1883.  His  health  again  failing  he  sold  the 
business  and  came  to  Southern  California.  He  bought  twenty  acres 
at  $80.00  an  acre  and  the  residence  which  he  built  in  1904,  at  1121 
South  Central  Avenue,  occupies  a  part  of  that  original  purchase. 

He  built  a  house  on  the  acreage  the  first  year,  which  was  the  first 
residence  on  Central  Avenue.  He  set  out  fruit  trees  and  grape  vines 
and  for  several  years  was  a  successful  fruit  grower.  In  1890  he  sold 
eight  acres.  Since  then  the  remaining  acreage  has  been  sold  in  acre 
lots,  excepting  the  plot  occupied  by  Y.  Goto,  for  a  nursery,  and  the 
Central  Avenue  home  where  his  widow  now  resides.  He  established 
the  first  insurance  agency  in  the  valley  which  proved  a  lucrative 
business  for  many  years  and  which  he  disposed  of  only  a  few  years 
ago.     He  was  a  charter  member  of  N.  P.  Banks  Post,  G.  A.  R. 

At  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa,  December  27,  1866,  Mr.  .Xyres  married 
Minnie  Menefee,  a  native  of  Virginia,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Kath- 
erine  (  Pendalton)  Menefee.  Her  father  was  a  planter  and  slave  owner 
in  the  ante-bellum  daj's,  and  she  was  reared  under  the  watchful  care 
of  a  black  mammy.  Four  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ayres: 
Mary,  who  became  the  wife  of  Harry  Banker,  died  following  the  birth 
of  her  child,  Marion,  who  was  raised  by  Mrs.  Ayres  as  her  own; 
Edgar  S.,  of  San  Francisco,  who  graduated  from  Stanford  University, 
is  a  consulting  engineer;  Minnie,  is  the  wife  of  Charles  H.  Moser. 
of  Glendale;  Nelson,  who  is  secretary  of  the  State  Dairymen's  As- 
sociation, is  a  resident  of  San  Francisco.  Mrs.  Ayres  is  a  charter 
member  of  the  Ladies'  Aid  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ayres  were  charter  members  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church 
of  Glendale,  and  transferred  their  membership  to  the  Tropico  Pres- 
byterian church  upon  its  organization,  and  were  also  charter  mem- 
bers of  the  Missionary  society.  Mrs.  .\yres  in  the  early  days  sug- 
gested that  their  street  be  named  Central  Avenue  and  in  due  time. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  U'l 

after  being  voted  on,  it  was  so  named.  In  1916  Mr.  and  Mrs.  .Aj'res 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding,  all  members  of  the  family  being 
present. 

All  through  life  Mr.  .\yres  was  a  splendid  example  f)f  enteri)rise 
and  courage.  His  determination  and  foresight  led  him  to  overcome 
obstacles  and  to  win  through  difiiculties  that  wnuld  have  daunted  one 
of  less  spirit. 

Simon  Fairdir.v  is  a  \'irginian  by  birth,  having  been  l)orn  May 
16,  1850.  in  Augusta  county,  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  He  is  a  son 
of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Funk)  Fairl^urn.  The  l-'airburns  are  of 
substantial  Scotch  ancestry.  William  Fairburn.  the  great  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  served  all  through  the  Revolution- 
ary War  during  which  he  suffered  many  severe  exposures,  the  effects 
of  which  caused  his  death  in  1782.  William  Fairburn,  his  grand- 
father, served  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  died  in  the  service  in  1814. 
The  Funks  are  Holland  Dutch.  Bishop  Henry  Funk  settled  at  In- 
dian Creek.  Montgomery  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1709,  Henry 
Funk  H,  the  second  son  of  Bishop  Funk,  was  purchasing  agent  for  the 
army  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  Joseph  Funk,  the  grandfather 
of  Mr.  Fairburn,  was  a  music  teacher  and  publisher  of  song  books. 
In  1847  he  published  the  first  Mennonite  hymnal,  and  the  publishing 
of  the  Mennonite  hymnals  and  literature  still  remains  in  the  Funk 
family. 

Simon  Fairburn  was  reared  on  his  father's  plantation  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  and  was  one  of  a  family  of  twelve  children.  He 
remained  at  home  until  he  was  seventeen,  when  he  was  apprenticed 
to  a  miller,  and  after  serving  his  ai)prenticeship  leased  the  mill  and 
operated  it  for  three  years.  He  went  to  Parkersburg,  West  Virginia, 
and  became  an  employee  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  remaining 
in  their  employ  for  twenty-two  years,  working  his  way  up  to  the 
position  of  representative  of  all  the  company's  business  in  Mexico. 
For  three  years  before  being  sent  to  Mexico  he  was  superintendent  of 
the  plant  at  Parkersburg.  In  the  fall  of  1886  he  was  sent  to  Mexico 
with  instructions  to  locate,  construct  and  operate  a  refinery  at  Mex- 
ico City.  In  1889  he  built  a  refinery  at  Vera  Cruz,  and  upon  com- 
pletion of  that  work  was  made  superintendent  of  all  the  company's 
business  in  Mexico,  a  position  of  great  responsibility.  In  1896,  he 
resigned  his  position  and  returned  to  the  States,  because  of  a  lack  of 
educational  institutions  in  which  to  have  his  children  educated.  After 
traveling  about  the  States  for  a  few  months  he  came  to  the  valley  and 
purchased  a  sixty  acre  tract.  His  present  residence  on  Tenth  Street 
at  Alameda  Avenue,  which  he  built  in  1901,  occupies  a  part  of  his 
original  purchase.  He  still  owns  forty  acres  which  is  largely  de- 
voted to  peach  orchards.  Mr.  Fairburn  has  been  very  successful  as 
a  fruit  grower.  He  is  identified  with  the  banks  of  Burbank  and  has 
been  a  member  of  the  school  board  in  his  district  for  many  years. 
Fraternally  he  is  a  Master  Mason  and  politically  a  Democrat. 

In  Washington,  D.  C,  on  September  5,  1873,  he  married  Bettie 
M.  Williams,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  R.  P.  Williams  of  Bath  county,  Vir- 


316  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

ginia,  who  was  a  surgeon  in  the  Confederate  army.  The  children  are ; 
Charles  W..  a  rancher  residing  near  Burljank;  Eve  E.,  wife  of  E.  J. 
Young,  of  Hermosa  Beach;  Flora  E.,  wife  of  Charles  Rehart,  of  Fill- 
more, California;  Olive  W..  wife  of  J.  A.  Swalk,  of  Burbank;  Ruth 
H.,  wife  of  B.  R.  Fellows,  an  employee  of  the  city  of  Glendale. 

George  B.  Woodbury,  a  well  known  pioneer  of  Glendale,  where  he 
has  resided  since  1884,  was  born  in  Monticello,  Minnesota,  July  21, 
1860,  a  son  of  George  L.  and  Anna  (Rich)  Wondhury,  His  parents 
were  natives  respectively  of  Massachusetts  and  Maine,  and  of  old 
Yankee  ancestry.  George  L.  Woodbury  was  reared  and  educated  in 
Salem,  Massachusetts.  He  conducted  a  mercantile  establishment  in 
his  home  town  for  several  years,  then  selling  out  started  for  Cali- 
fornia via  New  Orleans  and  the  Isthmus  route.  He  stopped  over, 
however,  in  New  Orleans  while  his  wife  went  to  Minnesota  to  visit 
relatives,  and  while  she  was  there  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
born.  The  following  winter  there  was  a  great  uprising  among  the 
Sioux  Indians  and  Mrs.  W'oodbury  returned  to  New  Orleans,  and  a 
few  weeks  later  was  bereaved  of  her  husband  and  left  alone  with  her 
infant  son.  She  decided  to  leave  the  South — for  there  were  rumors 
of  war  and  the  war  clouds  hung  low — on  "Old  Ironsides,"  the  last 
boat  out  before  war  was  declared.  Conditions  were  so  unsettled  that 
she  was  not  able  to  realize  on  her  household  possessions. 

She  made  her  home  in  Boston.  Massachusetts,  for  a  time  before 
going  to  Pittsfield,  Maine,  where  Mr.  Woodbury  was  educated  in 
the  Maine  Central  Institute,  taking  the  normal  course.  He  taught 
school  and  clerked  until  1884  when  with  his  mother  he  came  to  Glen- 
dale and  bought  a  twenty  acre  tract  of  land  on  Verdugo  Road,  and  in 
due  time  built  a  home  and  resided  on  the  ranch  for  some  years.  His 
mother  returned  to  the  East  in  1888  and  passed  away  in  1889. 

Mr.  Woodbury  soon  began  to  take  an  active  interest  in  local 
affairs.  In  1886  he  was  made  superintendent  of  the  \"erdugo  Water 
Company,  which  position  he  filled  until  he  resigned  in  April,  1922. 
He  was  the  first  city  clerk  of  Glendale  and  filled  that  office  for  eight 
years,  declining  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election.  Four  years  later 
he  was  elected  a  trustee,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  four  years, 
the  last  year  being  chairman  of  the  board.  Mr.  Woodbury  is  one  of 
the  outstanding  personalities  in  the  "fastest  growing  city,"  and  to 
him  much  of  its  development  and  progress  in  the  earlier  years  of  its 
existence  may  be  attributed.  The  service  he  rendered  in  the  position 
of  City  Clerk  in  the  city's  infancy,  may  truly  be  said  to  have  been 
invaluable;  while  in  the  place  of  Trustee  at  a  later  period,  his  good 
judgment  and  untiring  thoroughness  in  all  that  he  attempted  for  the 
welfare  of  the  city,  was  attended  by  valuable  results.  While  he  has 
voluntarily  retired  to  private  life,  he  is  still  active  in  participation  in 
civic  affairs  and  is  always  classed  among  those  who  are  outspoken 
champions  of  that  which  is  progressive  and  yet  "safe  and  sane."  He 
is  the  inventor  of  the  Woodbury  Sub-irrigation  System  which  has 
been  patented  and  is  a  demonstrated  success.     Machinery  is  being  in- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  317 

stalled  to  manufacture  the  device  in  large  quantities.  Kratcrnally  he 
is  a  member  of  Unity  Lodgfe  No.  368  I".  &  .\.  M.  and  politically  has 
always  been  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Woodbury  married  Alice  C.  Wright,  who  is  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania. They  have  one  daughter,  .\nna  C  who  is  a  graduate  of 
the  University  of  California  at  Berkeley,  where  she  received  the  de- 
gree of  A.  B.  and  was  elected  to  membership  in  Phi  Beta  Kappa. 
She  later  took  a  postgraduate  year  at  the  University  of  Southern 
California,  Los  .Angeles,  receiving  the  degree  of  .'\.  M. 

Edmond  J.  Valentine,  who  passed  from  this  life  on  i\Ia\-  23.  1903, 
was  born  in  Warren  county,  Pennsylvania,  August  5.  1841,  a  son 
of  Edmund  and  Hannah  (DcLong)  Valentine.  His  parents  were 
of  French-Scotch  ancestry.  His  grandmother  on  his  mother's  side, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Juliana  Scott,  was  a  cousin  of  Gen.  Win- 
field  Scott.  The  Valentine  family  in  America  antedates  the  Revolu- 
tionary War. 

Mr.  Valentine  attended  the  pul>lic  schools  of  Warren  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  went  to  Geneseo,  Illinois, 
where  he  worked  on  a  farm  and  grew  to  manhood.  In  1863  he  went 
to  Mitchellville,  Polk  county,  Iowa,  where  he  had  a  general  store  and 
was  postmaster  until  1882,  when  he  went  to  Mitchell  county,  Kansas, 
and  ranched  for  four  years.  Hard  times  caused  him  to  sell  out  at  a 
loss,  and  he  came  to  Los  Angeles  and  dealt  in  real  estate  until  1889. 
He  bought  forty  acres  of  land  on  Kenneth  Road  where  hi.s  widow 
now  resides.  Here  he  was  a  pioneer  farmer  and  took  an  important 
part  in  the  development  of  North  Glendale,  especially  so  in  the  de- 
velopment of  water  for  irrigation.  He  became  an  expert  agricultur- 
ist and  horticulturist,  firmly  believed  in  the  future  of  the  country,  and 
never  tired  of  doing  all  within  his  power  for  its  improvement  and 
development.  Fraternally,  he  was  a  Master  Mason  and  a  member  of 
the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen,  and  in  politics  was  a  Re- 
publican. 

At  Mitchellville,  Iowa.  January  1,  1867,  Mr.  Valentine  married 
Mary  Z.  DeLong,  a  native  of  Crawford  county,  Pennsylvania.  Her 
grandmother,  Elizabeth  Aughey,  was  a  descendant  of  the  Augheys, 
French  Huguenots,  who  came  to  .America  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  who  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  children  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Valentine  are:  William;  Edna,  who  is  the  wife  of  Gil- 
bert D.  McCann ;  John,  a  civil  engineer,  who  served  in  France  with 
the  603d  Engineer's  Corps  in  the  late  war;  and  Minnie,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Professor  E.  T.  Merrill  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Valentine  labored  unceasingly  in  the  development 
of  their  ranch,  the  result  of  which  is  in  evidence  today.  The  substan- 
tial stone  house  which  was  built  in  1900  and  the  spacious  grounds  are 
shaded  with  many  kinds  of  trees,  shrubs  and  vines  which  give  it  an 
attractive  and  alluring  setting.  Since  Mr.  V'alentine's  death,  Mrs. 
Valentine  has  directed  the  care  of  the  ranch  which  now  contains 
twenty  acres.    The  family  are  Episcopalians. 


318  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Mrs.  Mary  Howard  Gridley  JIraly.  On  September  27,  1909, 
Mrs.  Mary  Howard  Gridley  came  to  Glendale,  California,  from  New 
York  City.  After  looking  at  a  number  of  towns  in  which  to  build  a 
home  she  decided  on  Glendale  as  the  most  desirable,  it  being  in  such 
close  proximity  to  Los  Angeles  and  the  class  of  citizens  superior 
mentally  and  morally. 

In  a  short  time  she  was  elected  President  of  the  Tuesday  After- 
noon Club,  afterwards  a  member  of  the  Library  board  and  for  some 
time  was  chairman  of  the  book  committee.  She  loved  the  work  with 
the  members  of  the  Library  board  and  never  failed  to  express  her 
appreciation  of  the  wonderfully  efficient  librarian,  Mrs.  Danford. 
She  was  on  the  building  committee  for  the  public  library  and  greatly 
enjoyed  the  harmony  of  the  meetings. 

Mrs.  Gridley  was  a  state  chairman  in  the  Federated  Clubs  for 
four  years;  a  member  of  the  Friday  Morning  Club  in  Los  Angeles; 
and  the  Woman's  Press  Club,  having  brought  her  membership  card 
from  New  York  City,  where  she  was  a  member  for  many  3'ears. 
She  was  also  a  member  of  the  West  End  Women's  Club  of  New  York 
City  in  which  she  was  chairman  of  waterways  and  forestry;  the 
Rubenstein  Club;  the  Forum;  the  Current  Events  Club;  a  director 
of  the  Crippled  Children's  Home,  and  an  active  worker  in  many 
lines  of  charities. 

Being  one  of  the  early  members  of  the  national  society  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  descended  from  ancestors 
who  were  all  officers  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  she  first  joined  the 
"North  Shore  Chicago  Chapter."  She  was  born  and  raised  in  Illi- 
nois, in  a  town  founded  by  her  father,  Captain  Sullivan  Howard,  who 
was  on  the  Governor's  stafT  in  Boston,  Massachusetts.  He  brought 
a  colony  of  several  hundred  ])eople  to  Illinois  before  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  railroad  was  built,  and  founded  the  town  of 
Kewanee,  where  Mary  Howard  was  born.  She  was  educated  by  a 
governess  (a  Mount  Holyoke  graduate)  who  fitted  her  to  enter  the 
Kewanee  Academy,  where  she  finished  the  academic  course.  She 
then  entered  Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  where  she  completed  "the  be- 
ginning of  her  education."  She  has  been  an  ardent  student  all  her 
life,  taking  courses  of  lectures,  under  many  celebrated  teachers  in 
different  places;  has  been  twice  to  Europe;  has  studied  art  and  made 
a  specialty  of  antique  oriental  rugs  as  one  branch  of  art;  also  has 
studied  the  lives  of  the  Persian  rug  artists.  She  considers  these  rugs 
even  more  decorative  to  a  home  than  paintings  by  the  old  masters. 

After  finishing  her  school  life  she  married  James  Conger  Gridley, 
of  Pekin,  Illinois,  a  successful  merchant  of  a  fine  family,  who  died 
many  years  ago,  greatly  beloved  by  his  friends.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gridley 
had  one  daughter  who  married  Charles  W.  Kirk,  and  now  lives  in 
Santa  Barbara,  California.  Mrs.  Kirk  was  educated  at  a  ladies'  col- 
lege in  Minneapolis,  and  is  an  exemjjlary  woman. 

Mrs.  Braley  has  been  greatly  interested  in  the  Parent-Teacher 
Association  and  thinks  it  a  wonderful  organization  doing  much  good 
in  demonstrating  harmony  between  parents  and  teachers  in  their 
work.     She  was  a  member  of  the  State  Lectureship  Board  and  has 


TJu^.  %iaA^  ^.  :^/Uc/M^^f:)/i.. 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  321 

spoken  at  a  great  number  of  school  houses  in  Los  Angeles  county,  as 
well  as  lecturing'  before  nearly  all  of  the  largest  women's  clubs  on 
antique  rugs.  She  became  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  at 
the  age  of  twelve  years  and  began  to  teach  Sunday  School  at  the  age 
of  thirteen.  She  served  as  church  clerk  and  Sunday  School  superin- 
tendent for  many  years  in  the  middle  west  where  she  lived  before 
going  to  New  York  City.  She  loves  Sunday  School  and  Christian 
Endeavor  work  and  was  an  ardent  worker  for  all  these  organizations 
until  coming  to  California,  when  she  decided  she  had  earned  a  rest 
and  would  leave  the  responsibility  to  younger  workers.  Her  home  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  Glendale.  She  took  great  interest  in  the 
architecture,  and  the  building  as  well  as  the  laying  out  of  the  grounds 
and  the  planting  of  trees  and  flowers. 

The  Los  Angeles  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  was  formed  in  her  home  where  she  was  elected  regent 
and  served  them  for  two  years  in  the  city  of  Los  Angeles  where 
their  meetings  were  held.  In  1913  she  founded  the  General  Richard 
Gridley  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  with- 
out taking  any  pay. 

She  is  very  proud  of  her  Chapter  and  thinks  the  members  form 
the  finest  Chapter  in  the  world.  She  has  been  elected  regent  for  life, 
also  is  on  the  advisory  board  of  the  Maternity  Hospital  in  Los  An- 
geles and  her  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  Chapter  has 
done  some  praiseworthy  work  for  thi.s  institution,  both  in  making 
articles  of  clothing  for  the  little  babies,  putting  up  fruit  and  raising 
money  to  help  sustain  it.  They  also  work  for  the  Albion  Street 
School,  helping  to  Americanize  the  many  foreigners  in  that  locality. 

In  1910  Mrs.  Braley  became  a  member  of  the  Fine  Arts  League 
in  Los  Angeles,  and  assisted  with  their  collection  of  art  display  at 
Exposition  Park.  During  membership  in  that  League  she  became 
intimately  acquainted  with  Mr.  John  Braley  who  was  president  of 
that  League  while  Mrs.  Gridley  was  vice  president. 

In  July,  1914,  Mr.  Braley  and  Mrs.  Gridley  were  married  in  Chi- 
cago and  came  to  Glendale  to  live.  Mr.  Braley  is  the  father  of  Suf- 
frage for  California,  and  was  a  college  president  when  he  was  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  having  graduated  at  the  University  of  Tennessee  a 
few  months  before.  He  has  been  president  of  eight  banks  and  built 
the  Hibernian  Bank  building  in  Los  Angeles  while  he  was  its  presi- 
dent and  it  was  known  as  the  California  Savings  Bank.  He  is  a  very 
well  known  citizen  and  a  worker  in  the  Anti-saloon  League  and  in 
all  progressive  enterprises  to  benefit  California  and  the  United  States. 

(Written  by  one  who  has  known  Mrs.  Braley  from  girlhood.) 

Cornelius  C.  Cha.vdler,  who  passed  from  this  life  in  January, 
1917,  had  been  a  resident  of  the  valley  for  eighteen  years.  He  was 
born  at  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  July  13,  1837.  The  Chandlers  are 
an  old  Yankee  family,  which  dates  back  to  the  Colonial  days ;  some 
coming  over  in  the  Mayflower.  His  fatiier  was  Jeremiah  Chandler, 
and  his  mother's  maiden  name  was  Mercy  Merrill.    Jeremiah  Chand- 


322  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

ler  was  a  builder  and  specialized  in  building  churches,  in  the  East  and 
as  far  west  as  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  grew  to  manhood  in  the  contracting 
and  building  business,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  began  building  on 
his  own  account  in  Syracuse,  New  York.  He  remained  in  Syracuse 
only  a  few  years,  and  then  went  to  Chicago,  Illinois,  where  he  set- 
tled and  made  his  home  for  many  years.  He  became  prominent  as 
a  contractor  and  builder  in  Chicago  during  the  years  following  the 
Civil  War,  and  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  city  after  the  big  fire  of  1871. 
For  many  years  he  had  approximate!)'  two  hundred  men  in  his  em- 
ploy the  greater  part  of  the  time.  He  was  also  prominent  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Republican  party,  in  Masonry,  and  as  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R. 
During  the  Rebellion  he  served  with  the  infantry  of  the  One  Hundred 
Eighty-fifth  Regiment  of  New  York  Volunteers.  He  was  seriously 
injured  while  carrying  a  wounded  comrade  from  the  battlefield, 
which  caused  him  to  be  discharged  from  the  ranks  as  permanently 
disabled  for  further  military  duty.  He  was  a  top  sergeant  when 
disabled. 

After  having  spent  several  winters  in  Southern  California,  he 
decided  to  make  Tropico  his  home  and  moved  to  that  section  in  1899. 
He  was  greatly  interested  in  the  growth  and  development  of  the  land 
of  his  last  adoption.  When  the  tile  factory  was  promoted  he  bought 
a  twenty-acre  tract  and  presented  it  to  the  company  for  a  building 
site.  He  was  a  charter  member  of  Glendale  Commandry  No.  43, 
Knights  Templar,  and  was  an  official  of  that  body  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  At  Syracuse,  New  York,  in  1855.  Mr.  Chandler  married  Ann 
Elizabeth  Denick  of  that  city.  To  them  were  born  six  children: 
Alphonzo  L. ;  L.  O. ;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Edward  H.  Ellias;  l-illian 
wife  of  Charles  L.  Peckham ;  Cornelius  L. ;  Flora  May,  wife  of  Ed- 
ward H.  Weston.  AW  are  residents  of  Glendale  except  L.  O.  Chand- 
ler, who  lives  at  Gorman,  California. 

Dr.  R.avmond  E.  Ch.vse  has  l^cen  a  resident  of  Glendale  since 
1883,  when  his  parents  came  here  from  New  York  State  to  make  their 
home.  The  Chase  family  are  of  old  Yankee  ancestry.  Dr.  Chase  was 
born  in  Rochester,  New  York,  December  14,  1878,  a  son  of  S.  Everett 
and  Ella  T.  (Harris)  Chase.  His  father  was  a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  his  mother  of  New  \'ork.  His  father  grew  to  manhood  on 
the  home  estate  in  New  Hami^shire.  and  then  went  to  Rochester,  New- 
York,  where  he  became  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  shoes. 
In  Glendale  he  purchased  twenty  acres  on  Glendale  .\venue;  im- 
proved and  farmed  it  for  a  time,  becoming  a  fruit  grower,  raising 
all  kinds  of  deciduous  fruits  and  lemons.  He  later  sold  the  ranch 
and  lived  retired  for  some  years  preceding  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  October,  1914.  Mrs.  Chase  makes  her  home  with  her  son,  W.  E..  of 
Eos   Angeles. 

Dr.  Chase  attended  the  grade  school  of  Glendale  after  which  he 
graduated  from  the  Los  .\ngeles  High  School.  He  then  matriculated 
in  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Southern  California, 
now  affiliated  with  the  University  of  Southern  California,  and  grad- 


/4^4^ 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  327 

uated  with  the  class  of  1901.  For  three  years  he  i)racticed  medicine 
and  surgery  in  Los  Angeles,  since  which  time  he  has  been  located 
at  Glendale.  He  was  city  health  officer  of  Glendale  for  twelve  years, 
and  for  five  years  was  a  member  of  the  Lunacy  Commission  of  Los 
Angeles  county,  as  one  of  its  examining  physicians.  Fraternally,  he 
is  a  Master  ^Iason  and  an  Elk.  His  wife,  N'irginia  E.  Chase,  is  a 
native  of  West  Virginia  and  came  to  Los  Angeles  as  a  young  lady. 
She  spent  two  years  in  the  Dobhinson  School  of  Dramatics,  Los  An- 
geles, and  later  went  to  New  York  City,  where  she  had  a  professional 
career  for  eleven  years,  playing  ingenue  and  juvenile  leads.  She 
is  well  known  and  prominent  in  dramatic  circles,  as  district  chairman 
of  drama  for  the  Federated  Women's  Clubs  of  Southern  California, 
and  as  curator  of  the  drama  section  of  the  Glendale  Tuesday  After- 
noon Club.  She  is  also  a  member  of  the  Glendale  Music  Club.  In 
1920,  Dr.  Chase  built  a  modern  residence  at  239  North  Orange  Street, 
where  they  now  reside. 

Hon.  John  Robert  White,  Jr.,  who  represented  the  Sixty-first 
California  Assembly  District  in  the  Forty-third  and  Forty-fourth 
General  Assemblies,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  Febru- 
ary 15,  1870;  a  son  of  Capt.  John  Robert  and  Katie  (Ashbridge) 
White.  Capt.  White  was  of  Scotch  ancestry  and  a  native  of  Mary- 
land, while  Katie  Ashbridge  was  of  Quaker  descent  and  was  born  in 
Philadelphia.  The  Ashbridge  family  in  America  date  back  to  168.S, 
the  year  following  the  arrival  of  William  Penn. 

Capt.  John  Robert  W^hite  enlisted,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War,  with  the  Eighteenth  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  served  four 
months  and  re-enlisted  at  once  in  Co.  G.,  One  Hundred  Eighteenth 
Regiment,  and  went  to  the  front  as  a  first  sergeant.  At  Shepards- 
town,  all  the  company  officers  were  killed,  and,  by  si)ecial  orders 
from  Major  General  Fitz  John  Porter,  Sergeant  White  was  made  a 
lieutenant.  He  served  with  his  regiment  at  Fredricksburg,  Chancel- 
lorsville,  Gettysburg,  the  Wilderness,  and  through  many  other  en- 
gagements to  Appomattox,  and  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  captain. 

Mustered  out  of  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Captain 
White  returned  to  Philadelphia.  In  due  time  he  became  one  of  the 
firm  of  Boyd,  White  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia ;  manufacturers,  jobbers 
and  importers  of  car]jets  and  rugs;  for  many  years  one  of  the  largest 
concerns  of  its  kind  in  the  country.  In  1895  Capt.  White  sold  his 
interests  in  Philadeljjhia  and  came  to  California  and  purchased  a  wal- 
nut ranch  at  Burhank,  which  he  managed  for  several  years  before 
retiring.  In  Philadelphia,  Cajjt.  White  was  a  director  of  the  Ninth 
National  Bank,  the  Central  Trust  and  Safe  Deposit  Com])any  and  the 
Industrial  Safe  Deposit  Company;  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  of 
Fifty,  organized  to  promote  measures  for  the  benefit  of  the  city;  and 
was  a  well-known  member  of  the  Union  League,  United  Service  Club, 
Historical  Society  and  other  minor  societies.  Fraternally,  Capt. 
White  was  a  Mason.  His  death  occurred  March  15,  1915,  in  the 
eightieth  year  of  his  life.  The  demise  of  Mrs.  White  occurred  in 
1897. 


328  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  supplemented  his  high  school  educa- 
tion with  a  three  year  course  at  Wharton  School  of  Finance  and 
Economy  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  which  fitted  him  for 
public  life.  He  became  an  employee  of  Boyd,  White  &  Co.;  first  as 
one  of  the  office  force,  then  for  one  year  sold  goods  on  the  floor, 
after  which  he  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  buyer  of  carpets  and 
oriental  rugs,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  1895.  Then,  he 
accompanied  his  parents  to  California,  and  assisted  in  locating  them 
on  a  ranch  at  Burbank.  Returning  to  the  East  Mr.  White  was  a  trav- 
eling salesman  for  a  New  York  City  carpet  and  rug  concern  for  two 
years;  after  which,  he  returned  to  California  and  followed  ranching  at 
Burbank  for  four  years.  He  accepted  a  position  as  salesman  for 
T.  Bellington  &  Co.,  of  Los  Angeles,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until 
1905.  He  then  became  buyer  and  manager  of  the  carpet  and  rug 
department  of  the  newly  organized  California  Furniture  Co.,  of  Los 
Angeles,  which  position  he  still  holds.  In  1906  Mr.  White  became 
a  stockholder  in  the  company,  and  since  1919  has  been  on  the  board 
of  directors. 

Mr.  White  is  an  ardent  Republican,  and  has  been  an  active  sup- 
porter of  the  party  for  many  years.  In  1909  he  was  appointed  to 
fill  an  unexpired  term  as  city  trustee,  re-elected  in  1912,  and  chosen 
mayor.  He  resigned  from  this  position  in  May  of  the  same  year 
because  of  pressing  business  activities.  During  Mr.  White's  incum- 
bency as  trustee  and  under  his  administration  as  chairman  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  a  number  of  intricate  problems  were  confronted 
and  brought  to  a  successful  issue.  One  of  these  was  the  lowering  to 
grade  of  the  Pacific  Electric  railway's  track  on  Brand  Boulevard. 
This  was  accomplished  only  after  many  conferences  with  the  railroad 
officials,  and  by  the  firm  and  persistent  course  adopted  by  the  gov- 
erning body  of  the  city,  acting  generally  through  the  chairman  of 
the  board  and  the  city  attorney.  The  successful  venture  of  the  city 
into  municipal  ownership  in  the  distribution  of  light  and  power,  was 
accomplished  during  this  era.  In  1918,  Mr.  White  was  elected  to  the 
state  legislature  on  the  Republican  ticket,  and  re-elected  to  the  same 
office  in  1920.  During  his  first  term  he  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  mileage,  and  a  member  of  the  committees  on  ways  and 
means,  education,  banking,  oil  industries,  labor  and  capital.  During 
the  second  term  was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  governmental 
efficiency  and  economy,  and  a  member  of  the  committees  on  re-ap- 
portionment, ways  and  means,  attaches,  civil  services,  labor  and 
capital.  He  was  opposed  to  the  King  tax  bill  which  was  passed  after 
a  stormy  battle  had  ensued,  and  which  will  go  down  in  history  as  one 
of  the  hardest  fought  battles  that  ever  took  place  in  the  State  House. 

Mr.  White  is  president  of  the  Association  for  the  Betterment  of 
Public  Service  of  Southern  California ;  an  organization  that  seeks  to 
place  efficient  and  capable  officers  in  public  service.  He  is  also  treas- 
urer of  the  Federal  Discount  Corporation  of  California.  He  belongs 
to  the  Flinlridge  Country  Club;  the  Los  Angeles  Athletic  Club;  the 
Sons  of  the  American  Revolution;  the  military  order.  Loyal  Legion  of 
the  United  States;  the  fraternity.  Delta  Upsilon;  the  Glendale  Cham- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  829 

ber  of  Commerce;  and  represents  the  California  Furniture  Co.  in  the 
Lo3  Angeles  Chamber  of  Commerce.  In  Philadelphia  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Union  League  Club.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  Master  Mason. 
Since  1905  Mr.  White  has  made  semi-annual  business  trips  to  New 
York  City  for  his  company,  and  is  recognized  as  an  authority  of 
national  importance  on  goods  in  his  line;  especially  on  oriental  rugs. 
He  delivers  lectures  at  the  University  of  Southern  California  on  the 
oriental  rug  subject  and  also  contributes  articles  for  publication  to 
the  trade  magazines. 

At  Burbank,  California,  on  August  31,  1901,  Mr.  White  married 
Rosa  A.  Luttge,  a  native  of  Cook  county,  Illinois;  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Rosa  (Wagner)  Luttge.  The  Luttge  family  came  to  Southern 
California  in  1893  and  settled  on  a  ranch  at  Burbank.  Mrs.  White  is 
well  known  and  prominent  in  club  life  in  Glendale.  .She  is  past  presi- 
dent of  the  Glendale  Federation  of  Parent-Teacher  .Associations, 
secretary  of  the  Glendale  chapter  of  the  American  Red  Cross,  di- 
rector and  past  treasurer  of  the  Tuesday  Afternoon  Club.  She  is  a 
member  of  the  Colorado  Boulevard  Parent-Teacher  Association, 
which  was  the  first  of  its  kind  in  Glendale.  She  is  a  past  president 
of  the  Columbus  Avenue  Parent-Teacher  Association,  of  which  she 
was  also  parliamentarian  for  two  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White  have 
four  children:  John  Robert  3d.,  a  student  in  Stanford  University; 
Douglas  Ashbridge,  a  junior  in  Glendale  Union  High  School;  Ken- 
neth Ashbridge  attends  the  intermediate  school;  and  Gorden  Ash- 
bridge attends  the  grade  school.  The  family  home  is  on  Lexington 
Drive  at  North  Orange  Street,  and  is  one  of  Glendale's  attractive 
homes. 

RoiiERT  DiviNK,  who  passed  from  this  life  December  7,  1920,  had 
been  a  resident  of  the  valley  since  1881,  when  he  purchased  a  forty- 
six  acre  tract  on  San  Fernando  Road,  and  made  that  place  his  home 
until  his  death.  He  was  a  native  of  Ireland;  born  October  30,  1834, 
at  Straben,  Tyrone  county;  educated  in  the  national  schools;  and 
grew  to  manhood  on  a  farm.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  set  sail 
on  the  "Great  Western"  from  Liverpool,  and  after  si.x  weeks  arrived 
at  New  York  City.  After  a  short  stay  in  the  city,  where  he  visited 
relatives,  he  boarded  the  "Illinois"  for  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  which 
he  crossed  on  the  railroad,  then  came  up  the  Pacific  on  the  "Golden 
Age,"  anchoring  at  San  Francisco,  January  15,  1856.  He  mined  in 
California  and  Idaho  for  many  years;  was  among  the  first  hundred 
to  enter  Idaho,  from  the  west,  at  the  time  of  the  Salmon  River  ex- 
citement. In  1867  he  returned  to  Ireland  via  the  Nicaragua.  He 
spent  several  weeks  renewing  associations  of  youth,  but,  though 
loyal  to  his  native  land,  returned  to  California  firm  in  the  faith  that 
no  region  approached  it,  in  opportunities  afforded  to  men  of  energy 
and  determination.  During  his  visit  in  Ireland  he  secured  and  paid 
for  a  life  rental  of  the  old  home  place  for  his  father  and  gave  him 
the  greater  part  of  his  cash  ou  hand,  enabling  the  elderly  gentle- 
man to  live  in  very  comfortable  circumstances  during  his  declining 
years. 


330  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

In  1881  he  purchased  a  tract  of  land  on  San  Fernando  Road,  which 
was  partly  set  out  to  deciduous  fruit  trees  and  grape  vines.  He  cleared 
off  the  rest  of  the  land  and  built  a  modest  residence  the  first  year.  The 
present  home  of  the  family  at  3464  San  Fernando  Road,  which  was 
built  in  1908,  occujiies  a  site  adjacent  to  their  original  residence.  The 
acreage  is  still  intact  except  for  ten  acres  sold  to  the  Coast  Lumber 
Company,  and  land  given  to  the  city  for  Oxford  Street.  The  ranch 
is  leased  to  Japanese  for  the  raising  of  garden  truck.  It  is  one  of  a  few 
large  close  in  properties  left,  and  is  very  desirable  for  either  residence 
or  business  sites.  Mr.  Devine  was  a  Democrat,  always  active  in  the 
rank,  serving  on  the  election  boards  and  as  a  delegate  to  conventions. 

.\t  Los  Angeles,  on  May  4,  1874,  Mr.  Devine  married  Ellinor 
Chapman,  a  native  of  Georgina.  York  count)'.  Province  of  Ontario, 
Canada.  She  came  to  Los  Angeles  in  1868.  They  became  the  par- 
ents of  six  children:  Janet,  who  died  at  the  age  of  two  years;  Mar- 
garet, who  died  in  her  twenty-fourth  year;  Robert,  who  is  a  rancher 
at  Owensmouth ;  Lelia,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-si.x,  and  was  an 
auditor  in  the  employ  of  Parmalee  Dohrmann  Company,  of  Los  An- 
geles, prior  to  her  death ;  Mable,  who  is  at  home  with  her  mother  and 
assumes  the  responsibility  of  the  home;  and  Florence,  who  is  a  book- 
keeper in  the  employ  of  Andrew  Jergens  Company  at  Burbank.  The 
family  are  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

Edward  Ulysses  Emery  has  been  a  resident  of  Glendale  since 
1906.  He  soon  became  a  thorough  Glendalian  and  has  taken  active 
and  leading  part  in  the  development  of  the  city.  He  furnished  the 
name  "Jewel  City"  which  has  been  ado])ted  as  the  popular  name  of 
Glendale.  He  was  born  September  9.  1865,  at  LeGrand,  Marshall 
county,  Iowa;  a  son  of  Jacob  B.  and  Olive  Maria  (Dobson)  Emery. 
His  grandfather.  John  Emery,  was  a  native  of  New  York  State.  His 
father  was  born  in  Newark.  New  Jersey.  The  Emerys  were  pioneers 
in  Ohio  before  going  to  Iowa,  where  his  father  was  a  pioneer  farmer 
and  wagon  maker.  The  Dobsons  are  an  old  Virginia  family  and 
pioneered  in  Indiana  before  going  to  Tama  county,  Iowa,  where  they 
took  up  land,  later  known  as  Dobson  Settlement.  Mr.  Emery's  pa- 
rents were  married  at  Tama  county.  Iowa. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  third  of  a  family  of  six  chil- 
dren. He  received  a  common  school  education,  and  began  his  busi- 
ness career  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  by  clerking  in  a  general  store  in  his 
home  city.  Later  he  accepted  a  similar  position  in  a  shoe  store  at 
Marshalltown.  He  was  manager  of  a  general  mercantile  store  at  Le- 
Grand, before  becoming  a  traveling  salesman  for  Hammond  and  Bene- 
dict, owners  and  proprietors  of  the  LeGrand  Flour  Mills.  He  re- 
mained with  them  two  years,  then  for  five  years  held  a  like  position 
with  a  Marshalltown  wholesale  grocery  house,  followed  by  a  position 
of  similar  cai)acit>'  with  a  wholesale  tea  and  coffee  house  of  Des 
Moines.  In  190.^  he  moved  tf)  Birmingham.  .Mabama,  where  he  took 
charge  of  the  city  business,  and  was  assistant  Iniyer  for  a  large  whole- 
sale grocery  business  for  three  years. 


QLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  331 

In  1906  he  came  to  Glendale  wliere  he  has  since  resided  and  been 
active  in  the  growth  and  development  of  the  city.  He  was  one  of  the 
incorporators  of  the  city,  and  has  been  asked  to  serve  as  city  trustee 
many  times,  but  has  always  declined  the  honor.  He  was  a  charter 
member  of  the  first  Chaml)er  of  Commerce  of  Glendale,  of  which  or- 
ganization he  has  been  president,  first  to  fill  an  unexpired  term,  and 
then  for  two  succeeding  terms.  He  was  chairman  of  the  water  com- 
mission that  fought  for  the  municipal  ownership  of  water  works.  He 
was  a  stockholder  and  director  of  the  First  National  Bank  for  ten 
years,  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Glendale  Savings  Bank  and  of  the 
First  Savings  Bank  of  which  he  has  been  a  director  and  vice-president 
and  was  also  one  of  the  organizers  and  is  president  of  the  Citizens 
Building  Company.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  Scottish  Rite  Mason,  an  I''lk 
and  a  Past  Patron  of  the  Eastern  Star.  Politically,  he  is  an  old  line 
republican. 

Soon  after  coming  to  California  he  secured  a  position  as  sales 
manager  with  Newmark  Brothers,  coffee  and  tea  importers  and 
wholesalers,  of  Los  Angeles,  and  has  been  in  their  employ  ever  since. 
In  1920  the  business  was  reorganized  and  he  was  made  general  mana- 
ger.    He  is  a  member  of  the  Commercial  Board  of  Los  Angeles. 

At  LeGrande,  Iowa,  on  March  12,  1890,  Mr.  Emery  married  Mary 
Martha  Ferguson,  a  native  of  Ogle  County,  Illinois,  a  daughter  of 
Phineas  J.  and  Arabella  (Richardson)  Ferguson.  Her  grandmother 
Ferguson  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  Ogle  County,  where  her 
parents  also  first  saw  the  light  of  day. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Emery  are  the  parents  of  five  children  :  Owen  C, 
an  attorney  at  law  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Burbank  town- 
ship, a  sketch  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work  ;  Waunita  May, 
now  Mrs.  John  O.  Eaton,  supplemented  her  high  school  education  by 
taking  a  course  in  music  at  the  college  of  music,  University  of  South- 
ern California.  She  is  a  member  of  Chapter  L.  of  the  P.  E.  O. ;  Edward 
Gilbert  is  a  high  school  graduate  and  is  now  a  student  at  the  Univer- 
-sity  of  Southern  California,  and  a  member  of  the  fraternity  Sigma  Tau ; 
Josephine  Latatia  graduated  from  Glendale  L^nion  High  School  with 
the  class  of  1922;  Olive  Bell  is  a  senior  in  the  Glendale  Union  High 
School.  Mrs.  Emery  is  a  past  matron  of  Glen  Eyrie  Chapter  Order 
Eastern  Star,  a  trustee  of  the  Ladies  Auxiliary  of  the  American  Le- 
gion, a  member  of  the  Tuesday  Afternoon  Club,  Chapter  L.  of  the  P. 
E.  O.,  and  is  active  in  the  Ladies  Aid  of  the  First  Methodist  Church. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Emery  served  faithfully  on  all  war  auxiliary  work  dur- 
ing the  World  War.  The  family  residence  at  329  North  Kenwood 
Street  was  liuill  by  Mr.  l'2mery  in  UHO,  at  that  time  the  farthest 
out  of  any  residence  on  the  street. 

David  Henry  Imler,  who  passed  from  this  life  March  12,  1913, 
was  a  brilliant  scholar  and  a  successful  business  man.  He  was  re- 
markable for  his  wise  judgment  and  keen  foresight.  He  led  a  very  ac- 
tive and  useful  life,  giving  freely  of  his  time  and  substance  to  all 
worthy  causes. 


332  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Mr.  Tmler  was  born  October  31,  1863.  at  Bedford  county.  Penn- 
sylvania; son  of  Henry  and  Elizabeth  (Harcleroad)  Imler.  His  par- 
ents were  American  born.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and  enlisted  in  the 
Civil  War  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  serving  with  valor,  and  meeting 
death  in  action  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  David  H.  Iniler  was 
reared  by  his  grandfather,  Henry  Imler,  a  merchant  and  farmer  at 
Bedford.  He  graduated  from  high  school  at  the  age  of  fourteen  and 
then  went  to  South  America  with  a  party  of  men,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  cattle  business  for  three  years.  When  a  rebellion  broke  out  in 
Argentine,  the  party  returned  with  less  than  they  had  when  they 
started  out.  He  then  came  west,  and  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  en- 
tered the  employ  of  the  Chicago  &  Rock  Island  railroad,  and  was 
with  the  civil  engineers  in  construction  work  all  the  way  to  Colorado 
Springs.  His  services  as  an  engineer  proving  valuable,  he  was  re- 
tained for  four  years  in  different  capacities,  and  was  one  of  the  en- 
gineers connected  with  the  building  of  the  railroad  on  Pikes  Peak 
Later  he  worked  on  the  construction  of  the  Colorado  Midland  rail- 
road and  tunnel. 

During  all  this  time  he  was  interested  in  grub  staking  and  pros- 
pecting and  met  with  the  usual  experiences  of  miners  in  alternate  suc- 
cesses and  reverses.  With  John  Lane  and  J.  E.  Hunter  as  partners, 
they  located  the  Orphan  Bell  grouj)  on  Bull  Mountain,  Crijjple 
Creek.  Four  claims  were  located  and  developed,  and  were  sold  for 
$450,000.00.  They  formed  a  company  of  which  Mr.  Imler  was  secre- 
tary, and  developed  other  claims,  maintaining  an  office  in  Colorado 
Springs.  He  was  also  interested  in  a  brokerage  business  before  he 
left  for  California  in  the  fall  of  1897.  .Some  time  previous  to  his  com- 
ing to  California  he  purchased  a  three-acre  tract  of  land  in  Tropico, 
without  really  knowing  what  the  i)ro])erty  was.  There  was  a  small 
house  on  the  acreage,  and  one  year  prior  to  his  coming,  his  father-in- 
law,  James  B.  Hickman,  with  his  daughter,  Cora  Hickman,  came  and 
took  possession  of  the  place.  Mr.  Imler  built  a  modern  two-story 
residence  on  the  pro])erty  at  336  West  Park  Avenue,  which  was  named 
"Palm  Villa,"  and  is  now  the  home  of  his  widow. 

In  California,  Mr.  Imler  led  a  very  useful  and  active  life  until 
his  untimely  death.  Soon  after  coming  here  he  became  interested  in 
mining  at  Cadis,  California,  and  at  Parker,  Arizona.  In  1900,  when 
the  Tro])ico  Improvement  Association  was  organized,  he  became  its 
first  president.  He  was  an  important  member  of  the  committee  of 
Tropico  and  Glendale  in  the  early  agitation  for  the  Pacific  Electric 
railway.  For  a  few  years  prior  to  1908.  Mr.  Imler  maintained  an  office 
in  Los  Angeles  to  take  care  of  his  mining,  real  estate  and  oil  interests. 
In  the  fall  of  1908,  he  made  an  extensive  business  trip  East,  attend- 
ing to  many  matters  of  impcjrtance,  disposing  of  some  of  his  mining 
and  other  interests,  returning  the  following  fall.  Soon  thereafter,  he 
went  to  the  Imperial  Valley  where  he  became  prominently  identified 
with  the  growth  and  development  of  that  locality.  He  was  one  of  the 
organizers  and  a  director  of  the  Farmers  and  Merchants  Bank  at  Im- 
perial;  helped  organize  and  was  the  first  president  of  the  La  Verne 
school  district ;  was  president  of  a  water  company ;  and  owner  of  sev- 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  335 

eral  hundred  acres  of  land  which  he  improved  and  used  tor  the  grow- 
ing of  cotton,  alfalfa  and  barley.  From  the  time  he  first  went  to  the 
valley  until  his  death,  which  occurred  suddenly  while  directing  his 
employees,  he  spent  most  of  his  time  there,  returning  home  only  at 
intervals  t(5  be  with  his  family. 

Mr.  Imler  was  a  Scottish  Rite  Mason.  He  was  made  a  Mason  at 
Colorado  Springs,  later  demitting  from  that  lodge  to  become  a  charter 
member  of  Unity  Lodge.  No.  368,  at  Glendale.  He  was  a  Past  Patron 
of  Glen  Eyrie  Chapter  Order  Eastern  Star.  In  1903  and  1906  he  was 
superintendent  of  the  clay  department  at  the  Art  Tile  Comi)any,  at 
Tropico.  He  was  a  Republican,  very  active  in  the  ranks  at  Colorado 
Springs,  but  not  as  an  office  seeker. 

At  Los  Angeles.  California,  on  November  17.  1895,  Mr.  Imler 
married  Adelaide  Hickman,  a  daughter  of  James  Bailey  and  Eugenia 
Adelaide  Louise  (Wilson)  Hickman;  a  native  of  Evansville,  Indiana, 
where  she  graduated  from  high  school  and  taught  school.  In  Glen- 
dale, Mrs.  Imler  has  been  prominent  and  active  in  lodge  and  club  life. 
She  is  a  Past  Matron  of  Glen  Eyrie  Chapter  Order  Eastern  Star,  a 
Past  President  of  the  Women's  Relief  Corps,  a  member  of  both  the 
Tuesday  Afternoon  and  the  Thursday  .\fternoon  Clubs,  and  Mschsle- 
holtzia  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution.  Of 
all  these  orders  she  is  a  charter  member.  She  also  belongs  to  the 
W^omen's  State  Patriotic  Institute. 

There  are  two  children :  Eugene  Henry  and  Marjorie  Adelaide. 
Eugene  is  a  civil  engineer  in  the  employ  of  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany at  Bakersfield.  He  graduated  from  the  California  Institute  of 
Technology,  with  the  class  of  1917,  having  previously  graduated  from 
the  California  Military  School  of  Los  Angeles,  and  the  Los  Angeles 
High  School.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Fraternity  Sigma  Alpha  Pi.  On 
May  17,  1917,  he  enlisted  in  the  Radio  Transmission  Service  while  a 
student  at  college,  and  after  his  graduation  was  sent  to  Camp  Alfred 
\'ail.  He  remained  in  the  service  until  September  26,  1920,  and  was 
stationed  in  many  different  places  and  serving  most  of  the  time  in 
the  Signal  and  the  Engineering  Corps.  At  Camp  Humphries  he  was 
assigned  to  the  work  of  re-surveying  the  old  Fairfax  estate,  which 
was  originally  surveyed  by  George  Washington.  Many  of  the  old 
stakes  were  found,  and  the  original  survey  found  correct.  At  Marsh- 
field,  Oregon,  on  February  22,  1920.  he  married  Florence  Flannagan. 
They  have  a  babj'  girl,  Adelaide  Jeanne  Imler. 

Marjorie  Adelaide  graduated  with  the  class  of  1922  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  California,  at  Berkeley,  having  taken  the  political  science 
and  educational  course.  She  had  previously  graduated  from  the  Trop- 
ico Grammar  and  the  Glendale  Union  High  Schools.  She  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Sigma  Kappa  Sorority. 

Dr.  Jessie  .A..  Rl'ssell,  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  notable 
women  of  the  state,  is  a  native  of  Chicago,  Illinois.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  the  late  Robert  Logan  and  Lena  Belle  (Mackay)  Jack.  Her  father 
was  a  native  of  .'\yrshire,  Scotland,  and  her  mother  was  a  daughter  of 
Duncan  and  Jessie  Mackay,  pioneer  settlers  of  Illinois. 


336  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Dr.  Russell  attended  a  private  school  for  girls  during  early  girl- 
hood, later  taking  a  teachers'  course  at  the  State  Normal  School,  then 
the  University  of  Chicago,  where  she  received  the  degree  of  A.  B. 
She  then  went  to  the  Boston  Conservatory  of  Music  and  Oratory, 
where  she  completed,  with  honor,  a  three-year  course  in  vocal  and  in- 
strumental music  and  oratory. 

In  1902  Dr.  Russell  matriculated  in  the  S.  S.  Still  College  of  Os- 
teopathy and  Surgery  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa;  and  upon  her  graduating 
from  a  three  year  course  there,  completed  a  post  graduate  course  in 
medicine  in  Chicago.  She  came  to  Los  .Xngeles  and  maintained  of- 
fices there  and  in  Long  Beach.  In  the  practice  of  her  profession  she 
was  most  successful,  winning  national  distinction  and  honor  by  being 
the  first  osteopath  in  the  United  States  to  receive  recognitiim  from 
leading  life  insurance  companies.  She  was  appriinted  medical  exam- 
iner for  four  companies  of  national  prominence,  holding  these  ap- 
pointments imtil  ill  health  compelled  retirement  from  professional 
activity.  After  regaining  her  health  she  studied  law  at  the  University 
of  Southern  California  and  planned  to  follow  that  profession,  but  in 
1917.  because  of  her  activity  and  popularity  in  several  organizations, 
she  was  elected  state  president  of  the  California  Congress  of  Mothers 
and  Parent-Teacher  Assuciations  for  a  term  of  three  years.  With  the 
nation  just  entering  the  World  W'ar.  Dr.  Russell  found  herself  elected 
to  four  of  the  most  important  positions  held  by  women  of  California; 
including,  beside  the  state  presidency,  chairmanship  of  the  Los  Ange- 
les county  Women's  Council  of  Defense;  vice-])residency  of  the  Wom- 
en's Legislative  Council,  of  California;  and  vice-presidency  of  the 
Women's  City  Clul),  of  Los  .\ngeles.  For  the  ensuing  three  years  she 
devoted  all  of  her  leisure  time  to  public  work. 

In  1909,  Dr.  Russell  came  to  Glendale,  where  her  ability  was  at 
once  recognized.  She  was  the  first  president  of  the  Colorado  Boule- 
vard Parent-Teacher  Association  and  also  of  the  Parent-Teacher  F"ed- 
eration  upon  its  organization,  being  elected  to  these  offices  for  three 
consecutive  terms.  Later  she  was  elected  president  of  the  Interme- 
diate Parent-Teacher  .Association  for  two  terms.  She  organized,  and 
was  the  first  president  of  the  (ilendale  Choral  Club;  the  first  real  co- 
ordination of  musical  activity  in  the  city.  .Always  active  in  civic 
affairs,  she  has  held  numerous  offices  in  various  civic  organizations. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  chairman  of  its  civic 
committee,  a  former  vice-president  of  that  organization  and  secretary 
of  the  park  commission.  She  has  been  chairman  of  civics  of  the  Cal- 
ifornia Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  and  of  the  (ilendale  Tuesday 
Afternoon  and  the  Thursday  .\fternoon  Clubs.  She  is  a  member  of 
the  Friday  Morning  Club,  of  Los  .Angeles,  a  charter  member  of  the 
Women's  City  Club,  of  Los  .Angeles,  and  also  of  the  Women's  Re- 
publican Club,  of  Southern  California,  of  which  she  is  vice-president. 
She  held  the  office  of  National  Chairman  of  Legislation  of  the  Na- 
tional Congress  of  Mothers  and  Parent-Teacher  .Associations  for  sev- 
eral years,  during  which  time  she  made  numerous  trips  to  Washing- 
ton, b.  C,  and  lectured  in  most  of  the  states  in  the  Union,  her  services 
as  a  speaker  being  in  great  demand.    She  is  an  active  member  of  over 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  337 

a  score  of  organizations  including  the  College  Women's  Club,  the 
South  Side  Ebell,  the  Glendale  Music  Club.  Order  Eastern  Star, 
White  Shrine  and  others. 

Politically,  Dr.  Russell  is  a  progressive  Republican.  She  was  ac- 
tive in  the  suffrage  campaigns,  and  alwaj's  has  been  active  in  city, 
county  and  state  campaigns.  In  1916.  she  received  a  distinction  never 
before  accorded  a  woman  in  the  nation;  that  of  having  a  committee, 
including  the  state  chairman  of  the  Republican  party  from  an  eastern 
state,  come  to  California  and  personally  extend  her  an  invitation  to  go 
East,  to  assist  in  organizing  the  campaign.  The  many  interesting 
phases  offered  proved  so  alluring,  that  Dr.  Russell  accepted  and  spent 
six  weeks  in  the  work.  Keenly  alert  to  the  needs  of  the  hour.  Dr. 
Russell  has  been  a  potent  factor  in  women's  activities  throughout 
California. 

In  1898,  she  was  married  to  I.  H.  Russell,  an  attorney  of  Minne- 
apolis, Minnesota.  They  have  one  son,  Harold  Julian,  now  attending 
the  State  University. 

Frank  L.  Muhlem.\n  became  a  resident  of  Glendale  in  1906.  He 
immediately  interested  himself  in  civic  matters  and  has  served  the 
city  in  various  capacities;  first  as  city  attorney,  then  as  trustee,  and 
later  as  mayor.  He  was  chairman  of  the  charter  commission  that 
drafted  the  charter  submitted  to  the  voters  of  Glendale  in  1912.  and 
was  also  a  member  of  the  charter  commission  that  drafted  the  present 
charter  of  the  City  of  Glendale. 

He  is  the  son  of  Jacob  J.  Muhleman.  now  of  Riverside  county, 
California.  He  was  born  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  where  his  ancestors 
settled  in  the  early  days.  Mr.  Muhleman  is  a  lawyer  with  offices  in 
Los  Angeles.  He  is  married  and  has  two  children.  He  is  now  re- 
siding near  San  Fernando,  California. 

Edward  Ayers,  who  passed  from  this  life  April  30.  1921,  was 
born  August  19.  1837.  at  Danville.  Indiana.  His  parents  were  natives 
of  Maryland,  and  of  old  Southern  stock.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he 
was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  shoemaking  trade,  at  which  he  worked 
in  his  home  city  until  he  was  twenty  years  old.  He  went  to  New 
York  city,  and  from  that  port  took  a  steamer  for  the  Isthmus  of  Pan- 
ama. Crossing  the  isthmus  by  rail,  he  boarded  the  steainer  "John  F. 
Stevens"  for  San  Francisco,  and  arrived  there  after  a  perilous  journey. 
After  a  short  stay  in  the  Bay  City  he  went  to  Sacramento,  where  he 
worked  at  his  trade,  remaining  for  two  and  one  half  years,  then  went 
to  Yreka.  California,  and  mined  until  1861.  He  followed  the  t;()ld 
rush  into  Idaho,  and  spent  about  a  year  in  the  Clearwater  Mountains 
of  the  Gem  State  before  going  to  The  Dalles,  Oregon.  Here  he  re- 
sumed his  trade,  saved  his  money,  and  again  went  to  Idaho,  opening 
up  a  shoe  store  in  Silver  City,  which  business  he  conducted  for  nearly 
eight  years.  Making  his  way  overland  to  San  Francisco,  he  set  out 
for  Portland,  Oregon,  on  the  same  steamer  that  brought  him  up  from 
the  isthmus  in  1857.  At  Portland  he  worked  at  his  trade  in  connec- 
tion with  conducting  a  retail  shoe  store,  remaining  there  until  1878. 


338  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

He  returned  u>  San  Francisco,  and  because  of  somewhat  delicate 
health  he  spent  some  time  recuperating^. 

At  San  Francisco.  September  17.  1881.  Mr.  Ayers  married  Mary 
Mactinney.  She,  a  native  of  New  York  City,  was  a  milliner  before 
coming  to  California  with  friends  in  1878.  In  the  spring  of  188.3  they 
came  to  Southern  Califcirnia.  and  on  .Xugust  twenty-fifth  of  the  same 
year  they  bought  a  twelve  and  one-half  acre  tract  in  Tropico.  at  $80 
an  acre.  It  was  the  second  tract  sold,  and  the  first  to  be  improved 
with  streets,  sidewalks,  etc.  Mr.  Ayers  opened  up  a  shoe  shop  in  Los 
Angeles,  and  Mrs.  Ayers  assumed  charge  of  the  ranch,  setting  out 
several  hundred  apricot,  pear,  plum,  quince  and  apple  trees.  After 
growing  fruit  for  several  years  the  trees  were  nearly  all  taken  up, 
because  of  low  prices,  and  the  acreage  planted  to  grape  vines.  In  1884 
the  property  was  subdivided  and  put  on  the  market  as  the  Ayers  tract. 
It  is  all  sold  except  thirteen  lots  on  East  Palmer  Street.  The)'  have 
given  in  all.  three  acres  for  the  building  of  streets,  fifteen  foot  alleys, 
and  to  the  Pacific  Electric  and  Salt  Lake  railroads.  They  built  a 
home  the  first  year,  and  since  then  have  built  six  other  residences, 
some  of  which  have  been  sold.  The  sub-dividing,  selling  of  lots,  and 
the  building  of  residences  were  all  done  under  the  supervision  of 
Mrs.  Ayers.  while  Mr.  .\yers  was  attending  to  his  business  in  Los 
Angeles.  He  journeyed  to  Los  Angeles  and  returned  each  day  for 
over  thirty  years.  In  the  days  before  the  Pacific  Electric  was  built, 
his  mode  of  travel  was  a  horse  and  Iniggy.  He  was  very  much  in- 
terested in  the  growth  and  development  of  the  valley  all  his  life, 
and  willingly  supported  all  movements  for  the  general  good  of  the 
commtmity. 

Mr.  Ayers  was  a  Master  Mason  and  an  Odd  Fellow,  having 
joined  the  orders  as  a  young  man.  His  first  vote  was  cast  at  Yreka, 
California,  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  throughout  his  long  life  he 
gave  his  supjiort  to  the  Republican  jjarty.  In  his  many  years  of  travel 
about  the  countrj'  he  collected  hundreds  of  varieties  of  minerals  and 
petrified  woods,  which  together  with  other  specimens  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  makes  it  one  of  the  most  valuable  collections  of  its  kind 
in  the  countrj-.  This  collection  and  five  hundred  and  fifty  arrow 
points,  his  family  has  donated  to  the  Southwest  Museum  of  Los 
Angeles.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ayres  became  the  parents  of  three  children : 
Wesley  John,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  months,  was  the  first 
white  boy  born  in  Tropico;  Evalena,  who  is  the  wife  of  C.  C.  Melrose, 
of  Bakersfield,  California,  was  the  first  white  girl  born  in  Tropico, 
now  an  accomplished  pianist  and  vocalist,  having  studied  under  the 
best  teachers  in  Los  Angeles;  Edward,  who  is  a  well  known  actor, 
has  played  on  the  legitimate  stage  and  also  for  the  moving  pictures. 
He  was  formerly  agent  for  the  National  Cash  Register  Company,  at 
Sidney,  Australia,  and  prior  to  that  was  a  sailor  for  seven  years, 
during  which  time  he  sailed  around  the  world  three  times.  Mrs. 
Ayres  is  a  splendid  example  of  a  business  woman,  and  is  held  in  high 
regard  and  esteem  by  her  large  circle  of  friends.  She  is  an  active 
member  of  the  Thursday  Afternoon  Club  and  of  the  Kebekahs.  She 
resides  in  a  new  duplex  on  Palmer  street  at  Glendale  avenue. 


GLENDALE  AND  VK'IXITV  3;j9 

Daniel  Webster  was  born  at  Conway,  Carroll  county,  New 
Hampshire,  on  December  1,  1836,  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Naamah 
(Swan)  Webster.  The  Webster  family  is  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry 
and  has  been  in  America  since  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Mr.  Webster's  grandfather.  John  Webster,  was  advanced  tn  the  ranl< 
of  colonel  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  and  in  the  French  and  In- 
dian wars  fought  under  General  John  Stark.  His  grandmother.  Mary 
(Sterling)  Webster,  was  a  niece  of  General  Sterling  and  also  of  Gen- 
eral John  Stark.  Samuel  Webster  was  a  second  cousin  of  Daniel 
Webster,  the  illustrious  American  statesman,  jurist  and  orator. 
Naamah  Swan  attended  Fryburg  Academy  when  Daniel  Webster  was 
one  of  the  facult)'  of  that  institution. 

Mr.  Webster  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm,  and  after  attending 
the  district  school,  went  to  Fryburg  .\cademy,  at  Fryburg,  Maine, 
which  was  only  a  short  distance  from  Conway,  New  Hampshire. 
After  finishing  his  course  at  Fryburg  Academy,  he  was  employed  in  a 
carriage  and  wagon  factory  at  Gilmanton  for  three  years.  He  then 
went  to  Woburn,  Alassachusetts.  where  he  was  employed  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  leather  goods  for  several  years;  in  later  years  acting  as 
foreman.  In  1860.  .\Ir.  Webster  went  to  Osage  county,  Kansas,  where 
he  pre-empted  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  government  land,  im- 
proved the  same  and  remained  there  for  eighteen  years.  There  he  was 
one  of  the  organizers  of  a  school  district  that  was  twenty-four  miles 
long.  Selling  his  Osage  county  farm  he  went  to  Lebo.  Coffy  county, 
Kansas,  and  conducted  a  general  mercantile  store  and  farmed  until  he 
sold  out  in  1884  and  came  to  Tropico.  He  purchased  four  acres  of 
land,  his  present  residence  at  1012  South  Central  avenue  occupying  a 
part  of  the  original  purchase.  In  1904  he  went  to  Imperial  Valley, 
where  he  and  his  oldest  son  each  homesteaded  a  cptarter  section  of 
land  west  of  El  Centro.  They  resided  there  a  part  of  each  year  until 
1914,  when  they  sold  their  holdings  and  returned  to  their  home  in 
Tropico. 

Mr.  Webster  was  a  member  of  the  first  board  of  trustees  of  the 
city  of  Tropico;  was  re-elected  and  served  the  second  term  as  presi- 
dent of  the  board.  Mr.  Webster  married  Hannah  Sleeper  Smith  at 
Concord,  Massachusetts,  December  15,  1857,  a  native  of  Gilmanton, 
New  Hampshire,  and  of  an  old  New  England  family.  Their  children 
are:  Fred,  who  is  the  city  clerk  of  Burbank;  Josephine,  who  married 
Griffeth  O.  Hughes,  passed  away  in  1903,  leaving  a  family  of  five 
children;  Samuel,  who  died  in  Arizona  of  typhoid  fever  at  the  age  of 
thirty-two;  and  Jose])h,  who  is  purchasing  agent  in  the  light  and 
power  department  of  the  city  of  Glendale. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webster  are  members  of  the  Second  Adventist 
Church  of  Los  Angeles.  On  December  15,  1917,  they  celebrated  their 
sixtieth  wedding  anniversary.  Both  have  been  blessed  with  good 
health  all  their  lives,  and  are  exceptiftJially  well  preserved  for  their 
years.  Mrs.  Webster  is  one  year  younger  than  her  husband.  They 
have  eight  grand  children  and  nine  great-grand  children. 


340  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

William  E.  Evans,  of  the  law  firm  of  Evans  &  Pearce,  Van  Nuys 
Building,  Los  Angeles,  was  born  in  London,  Kentiuky.  December  14, 
1877,  a  son  of  P.  M.  and  Vina  Catherine  (Jones)  Evans.  He  is  de- 
scended from  old  Southern  families  on  both  his  father's  and  mother's 
side.     His  parents  reside  at  London.  Kentucky. 

Mr.  Evans  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm,  and  after  graduating 
from  the  pul)lic  schools,  enrolled  at  the  Sue  Bennett  Memorial  Col- 
lege, where  he  took  a  general  course.  He  read  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1903,  and  practiced  law  in  Kentucky  until  he 
came  to  Glendale  in  1910,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  was  asso- 
ciated with  Mattison  B.  Jones  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  with 
ofifices  in  Los  Angeles,  until  1917,  since  which  time  he  has  been  asso- 
ciated with  .Mbert  D.  Pearce. 

In  April,  1911,  he  was  made  city  attorney  of  Glendale,  and  filled 
that  office  for  nearly  ten  consecutive  j'ears.  These  ten  years  in  the 
life  of  the  city,  constituted  one  of  the  most  important  eras  in  the 
history  of  the  municipality,  and  the  work  of  Mr.  Evans  as  city  at- 
torney was  of  inestimable  value.  During  that  time  the  city  took 
over  the  management  of  the  water  and  electrical  distribution,  thus 
embarking  upon  an  experiment  in  the  ownershij)  of  public  utilities 
by  a  municipality.  The  move  was  fraught  with  more  risk  than  sub- 
sequently assumed  by  other  cities  with  a  large  numl^er  of  precedents 
to  guide  them;  yet.  the  enterprise  was  a  success,  and  its  freedom 
from  embarrassment  and  expensive  litigation,  which  in  some  cases 
follow  closely  upon  the  heels  of  similar  ventures,  was  evidence  of 
the  soundness  of  the  City  Attorney's  judgment  and  his  knowledge 
of  the  law.  There  were  also  a  number  of  intricate  questions  handled 
by  him  during  his  incumbency  of  office,  dealing  with  the  railroad, 
gas  and  telephone  companies,  which  were  carried  out  with  marked 
success  and  resulted  in  ad\antage  to  the  city.  He  ai)peared  on  a  num- 
ber of  occasions  as  the  representative  of  the  city  before  the  Railroad 
Commission  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state,  with  conspicuous 
success. 

He  is  associated  with  J.  G.  Huntly  in  develojjing  real  estate, 
putting  on  high  class  residential  sub-divisions  on  Kenneth  Road. 
The  new  building  occupied  by  the  Pendroy  Dry  Goods  Company  was 
built  and  is  owned  by  Huntly  <.K:  Evans.  It  is  Cllendale's  most  i)re- 
tentious  building,  the  cost  exclusive  of  location,  approximating 
$150,000.00.  Mr.  Evans  is  a  leader  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican 
party  of  Los  Angeles  county.  He  is  chairman  of  the  Republican  Con- 
gressional Committee  of  the  Sixty-first  Assembly  District,  and  a 
member  of  the  Republican  state  and  count}'  Central  committees. 
Of  the  latter  he  is  first  vice  ])resident.  Without  his  making  any  cam- 
paign for  it  his  name  was  placed  in  nomination  for  United  States 
Congressman,  at  the  same  convention  held  in  Pasadena  in  February, 
1922  that  nominated  Mr.  Lincberger.  He  received  sixty-six  votes  on 
the  first  ballot  to  appro.ximately  ninety  each  for  both  Mr.  Line- 
berger  and  Mr.  Flower,  who  had  made  vigorous  campaigns.  Me 
refused  to  allow  his  name  to  appear  on  the  next  ballot  on  which  Mr. 
Lineberger  was  nominated.     During  the  World  War  Mr.  Evans  was 


/   /  lycZc^^iUxyi^ 


i.   iOo 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  345 

a  member  of  the  legal  advisory  board  for  his  district.  He  is  the 
attorney  for,  and  was  one  of  the  organizers  of,  the  Glendale  State 
Bank.  He  was  attorney  for  the  Rank  of  Glendale  at  the  time  it  was 
taken  over  by  the  Los  Angeles  Trust  and  Savings  Bank  (now  Pacific- 
Southwest).  He  is  also  attornej'  for  the  Glendale  National  Bank,  and 
was  one  of  the  organizers  and  vice-president  of  the  South  Side  State 
Bank,  in  Los  Angeles.  Fraternally,  he  is  a  Knight  Templar  Mason 
and  Shriner,  and  an  Elk.  For  needed  recreation  he  holds  a  member- 
ship in  the  Flintridge  Country  Club.  He  belongs  to  the  Glendale 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  City  Club  of  Los  Angeles. 

In  the  spring  of  1907.  Mr.  Evans  journeyed  to  Los  Angeles  from 
Kentucky,  and  on  .\pril  eighteenth,  married  Cecil  Corinne  Smith,  also 
a  native  of  Kentucky.  She  is  a  daughter  of  James  Dudley  and  Amer- 
ica (Ewell)  Smith.  Her  father  was  a  lawyer,  who,  although  his  ca- 
reer was  cut  short  by  death  in  1900,  while  still  a  young  man,  had  risen 
to  prominence  not  only  in  his  profession,  but  also  as  a  capitalist.  Her 
mother  was  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Richard  Leighton  Ewell.  a  veteran 
of  the  Union  army  in  the  Civil  War,  and  of  the  Virginia  branch  of  the 
Ewell  family.  The  Ewell  family  is  of  Scotch  ancestry,  and  was 
founded  in  America  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The 
name  in  Scotland  was  spelled  Yuille.  In  America,  the  name,  like 
many  other  family  names,  in  due  time,  by  some  of  its  members,  came 
to  be  spelled  as  pronounced,  Ewell.  The  Ewell  family  is  one  of 
America's  largest  and  most  illustrious.  Its  name  is  found  in  all  walks 
of  life,  and  not  least  is  it  mentioned  in  the  military  annals  of  the 
nation. 

Mrs.  Evans  began  her  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  her  parents  having  moved  there  when  she  was  nine 
years  old.  Residing  there  until  the  death  of  her  father,  she.  with  her 
mother,  came  to  Los  Angeles  and  continued  her  education  until  she 
was  in  her  junior  year  at  the  Los  .Angeles  High  School,  w  hen  busi- 
ness called  her  mother  back  to  Kentucky.  She  matriculated  at  Ham- 
ilton College.  Lexington.  Kentucky,  for  a  course  in  literature  and  dra- 
matic art.  In  1906.  she  and  her  mother  again  came  to  Los  ;\ngeles 
to  live.  At  present  she  is  an  active  member  of  the  Tuesday  Afternoon 
Club,  and  was  a  member  of  its  board  of  directors  for  three  years.  Mrs. 
Evans  was  one  of  the  organizers,  and  is  a  director,  of  the  Glendale 
Chapter  of  the  American  Red  Cross,  and  was  the  first  chairman  of  the 
hospital  garment  department  of  that  organization.  She  is  a  member 
of  Glen  Eyrie  Chapter,  Order  Eastern  Star,  and  the  Ebell  Club  of 
Los  Angeles.  She  belongs  to  the  Christian  church.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Evans  have  one  daughter,  Catherine  Cecil,  age  nine  years.  The  fam- 
ily home  is  now  at  333  North  Orange  street,  but  early  in  1923,  Mr. 
Evans  will  build  an  Italian  type  residence  on  Cumberland  road,  Ken- 
neth Heights,  Glendale,  California. 

S.\MUEL  Littleton  Borthick,  who  passed  from  this  life  on  May 
13,  1918,  had  been  a  resident  of  Glendale  since  1896.  He  was  born 
December  18,  1837,  in  Johnson  county,  Missouri,  where  his  father, 
James  Borthick,  a  native  of  New  York  state,  was  a  pioneer  of  1832. 


346  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

Mr.  Borthick's  grandfather,  John  Borthick.  a  native  of  Ireland,  emi- 
grated to  America  in  1795  and  settled  in  New  York  state.  Mr.  Bor- 
thick's mother  was  Mary  (Arah)  Borthick,  a  native  of  Lexington. 
Kentucky.  Samuel  Borthick  was  the  fourth  of  a  family  of  twelve 
children.  He  attended  the  district  schools  of  Johnson  county  and 
then  farmed  until  he  was  about  thirty  years  old,  when  he  went  to 
Warrensburg,  and  engaged  in  a  mercantile  business,  remaining  there 
until  he  came  to  Glendale.  He  traded  property  in  Warrensburg,  for 
a  house  and  lot  in  Tropico  on  Park  Avenue,  between  Brand  Boule- 
vard and  Central  Avenue,  and  made  that  place  his  home  for  some 
time.  Later  he  bought  a  fifteen  acre  tract  on  Windsor  Road  and  gave 
his  time  to  growing  berries.  He  began  selling  his  acreage  for  home 
sites  and  soon  all  of  his  time  \\as  given  to  dealings  in  real  estate, 
which  business  he  followed  until  his  death.  Being  honest  and 
straightforward  in  his  business  dealings  he  soon  built  ^^^  a  large 
clientele  and  was  recognized  as  a  realtor  of  more  than  ordinary  conse- 
(|uence  and  ability,  and  for  many  years  was  considered  the  best  posted 
realtor  on  valuations  in  the  San  Fernando  valley.  He  was  a  charter 
member  of  Unity  Lodge  No.  368,  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  had  been  a  Master  Mason  for  over  fifty  years.  He  was  active 
in  the  Central  Christian  church,  of  which  he  had  been  a  trustee  for 
many  years.  He  became  the  owner  of  much  real  estate  both  vacant 
and  improved,  and  was  ever  interested  in  the  development  and 
growth  of  Glendale,  giving  his  time  and  substance  to  all  worthy 
causes,  truly  benefiting  the  city  by  his  residence  and  work. 

At  Warrensburg,  Missouri,  Mr.  Borthick  married  Eliza  Cleve- 
land, a  native  of  Kentucky.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  arc  living,  except  Ray  A.  Borthick  who  passed  away 
in  December,  1922,  and  who  was  one  of  Glendale's  highly  respected 
citizens.  Those  living  are  as  follows:  Sally,  wife  of  Ira  Tucker, 
of  Pomona,  California;  W^  O.,  of  Glendale;  Edna,  wife  of  George 
Byram,  of  Watsonnville,  California;  Frank,  of  San  Francisco;  Nona, 
wife  of  E.  K.  Daniels,  of  Glendale;  Miss  Fredonia,  of  Los  Angeles; 
and  Ruby,  wife  of  Logan  Bowen.  of  Modesto,  California. 

Jesse  S.  Stixi:.  The  early  histor)-  of  the  Stine  family  in  America 
dates  back  to  the  early  days  of  the  colony  of  V^irginia,  when  three 
brothers  settled  there.  They  were  natives  of  Germany,  and  history 
mentions  the  name  in  connection  with  the  reformation  and  down 
through  the  ages  since  that  time.  The  year  that  the  subject  of  this 
review  was  born  finds  his  parents  on  a  farm  in  Bucks  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania. His  father  was  I.  D.  Stine  and  his  mother  was  Rebecca 
(Coe)  Stine.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  his  mother 
of  Ohio.  His  father,  early  in  life,  became  a  contractor  and  builder  and 
continued  in  that  business  for  many  years,  in  the  East.  He  was  born 
and  reared  in  Ohio  and  Indiana;  making  Los  .Xngeles  his  home  after 
coming  to  Southern  California  in  1885.  He  first  came  to  California 
in  1880  but  remained  only  a  short  time.  In  1895  he  retired  from  the 
contracting  business,  and  was  then  employed  by  the  city  of  Los  An- 
geles; first  as  a  deputy  zanjert)  and  later  as  deputy  superintendent  of 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  347 

streets.  He  is  now  a  resident  of  Pasadena,  where  he  has  lived  re- 
tired for  several  years.  He  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.  and  served 
with  the  31st  Ohio  Infantry  in  the  Civil  War. 

Jesse  E.  Stine  was  born  at  Fremont,  Sandusky  county,  Ohio.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen  he  had  served  three  years  as  an  apprentice 
plumber,  after  which  as  a  journeyman  plumber  he  traveled  through 
many  of  the  states.  In  18S2  he  joined  Co.  F.,  U.  S.  Cavalry,  at  Ft. 
Custer  and  remained  in  the  army  for  three  years,  serving  all  through 
the  Northwest.  He  then  joined  his  father  in  Los  Angeles  and  was  in 
partnership  with  him  until  1892,  when  he  became  a  plasterer  on  his 
own  account. 

In  1887  he  came  to  Glendale  and  has  resided  here  ever  since.  In 
1896  he  and  his  brotlier-in-law,  Wesley  H.  Bullis.  formed  a  partner- 
ship as  plasterers  and  bricklaying  contractors  which  lasted  for  twenty 
years  without  any  dissension.  E)uring  this  time  they  were  leaders  in 
their  line  of  business  in  Glendale,  Tropico  and  vicinity.  In  1887  Mr. 
Stine  bought  a  five-acre  tract  in  what  was  then  known  as  West  Glen- 
dale, his  residence  at  514  West  Broadway,  which  he  built  in  1908,  oc- 
cupies a  part  of  this  original  purchase,  of  which  he  still  owns  three 
acres.  Fraternally  he  is  a  Master  Mason  and  an  Elk.  Politically  he 
is  a  Republican.  For  many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  West  Glendale. 

At  Tropico,  on  June  15,  1888,  Mr.  Stine  married  Tessie  Bullis,  a 
daughter  of  Philip  Bullis,  one  of  the  earliest  pioneers  of  the  San  Fer- 
nando velley.  They  have  one  son.  Richard,  who  resides  at  La  Cres- 
enta,  and  is  associated  with  his  father  in  the  plastering  business.  He 
married  V^arnice  Gilkin,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  twin  boys,  Philip 
and  Jack.  Mrs.  Stine  died  in  1910.  Mr.  Stine  married  for  his  second 
wife  Ursula  M.  Goldsworthy,  of  Los  .'Kngeles,  a  daughter  of  John  (i. 
Goldsworthy,  a  pioneer  surveyor  of  that  city. 

Jesse  Pawling  Lukens.  More  than  twenty-nine  years  ago  a  deli- 
cate man  who  was  told  by  the  doctors  "l)ack  East"  that  he  could  not 
live  two  months  if  he  stayed  in  that  climate,  arrived  in  California. 
His  having  a  letter  of  introduction  to  a  gentleman  living  in  Glendale 
brought  him  to  this  neighborhood.  The  Southern  Pacific  having 
given  the  impetus  to  the  settlement  of  Southern  California  by  com- 
pleting its  line  from  the  north,  the  large  Spanish  land  grants  were 
already  sold  and  subdivided  into  ten  and  twenty  acre  ranches.  Money 
being  scarce  at  that  time  most  of  the  land  was  sold  on  easy  terms. 
The  ranch  industry  was  having  a  boom  and  our  tenderfoot  caught 
the  fever  and  bought  ten  acres  of  sage-brush  and  cactus,  on  time. 
The  land  was  not  cheap,  as  the  price  paid  was  $250  an  acre.  Nursery 
stock  was  scarce.  From  a  ranch  nearby  he  obtained  the  seedlings 
that  had  dropped  and  by  hand  squeezed  out  the  seeds  and  planted 
them  in  boxes,  and  after  grubbing  out  the  sage  brush  and  cactus,  he 
set  out  the  small  plants  in  rows  for  nursery  stock.  The  plants  grew 
and  thrived  and  in  due  time  were  set  out  for  the  orchard.  He  became 
ambitious  and  bought  ten  acres  at  the  same  ])rice  and  on  the  same 
terms.    He  was  now  in  debt  $5,000.    He  was  also  healthy  and  happy, 


348  GLEN  DALE  AND  VICINITY 

and  the  work  was  fascinating.  This  second  ten  acres  he  sold  as  soon 
as  the  trees  were  large  enough  and  this  helped  lessen  the  indebted- 
ness. He  did  this  several  times,  buying  bare  land  and  setting  out  his 
own  nursery  stock,  paying  all  the  way  from  $350  to  $600  an  acre. 
In  each  case  he  profited.  Finally  buying  ten  acres  he  set  out  to 
lemons,  and  kept,  with  twelve  original  acres  set  out  to  oranges. 
The  first  orange  crop  yielded  $5.00.  The  first  crop  of  lemons  $25.00. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  the  grove  began  to  pay  expenses.  But  little 
by  little,  year  by  year,  the  gain  was  greater.  Increased  yield  meant 
greater  expenses.  Dry  years  meant  more  water.  Much  of  the  coveted 
gain  went  into  a  hole  in  the  ground,  and  machinery.  But  finally, 
after  many  ups  and  downs  (principally  downs),  strict  economy,  pure 
grit,  pluck,  and  industry  won.  The  goal  was  reached,  the  land  paid 
for,  the  trees  still  beautiful  and  thrifty.  There  were  many  discourage- 
ments and  anxious  days  and  nights  but  he  never  lost  his  cheerful, 
hopeful  spirit;  and  his  honesty  and  happy  disposition  gained  for 
him  good  friends  and  true,  who  helped  him  over  some  of  the  hard 
places.  He  stands  today  on  Easy  street  an  example  of  sturdy  indus- 
try and  pluck,  a  credit  to  his  pioneer  ancestors,  who  came  to  the  new 
world  to  settle  over  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight  years  ago,  and  who 
left  behind  them  as  heritage  the  sturdiness  of  constitution  which 
triumphed  over  disease,  with  the  help  of  the  Glendale  climate. 

Mr.  Lukens  was  born  near  Philadelphia,  in  Delaware  county. 
Pennsylvania.  His  father  was  Abraham  C.  Lukens,  born  in  the 
same  vicinity.  Abraham  was  the  son  of  Levi  Lukens,  born  in  1770, 
of  the  fourth  generation  of  the  Lukens  families,  which  came  to  Amer- 
ica with  the  William  Penn  colonies  for  the  sake  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  The  old  house  where  he  lived  while  in  active  business,  and 
the  barn  and  part  of  the  old  tannery  are  still  standing  at  Penfield.  a 
suburb  of  Philadelphia.  The  home  which  he  built  for  his  later  j^ears 
is  still  standing  and  is  kept  intact,  and  is  now  known  as  the  Samuel 
Hibbert  property.  Levi  Lukens  was  a  great  business  man  in  his  day; 
he  had  "pit  wagons"  as  they  were  called,  hauling  merchandise  be- 
tween Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh.  His  horses  were  famous,  so  fat 
that  they  could  scarcely  walk. 

Levi  married  Mary  Jones,  of  Juniata  county,  Pennsylvania,  April 
17,  1787,  at  Haverford  Meeting.  Abraham,  the  youngest  child,  was 
born  in  1814.  He  married  Mary  Pawling,  a  descendant  of  the  well 
known  Pawling  family  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  The  first 
Henry  Pawling  came  to  .America  in  1664  in  the  Duke  of  York  expe- 
dition. He  was  a  captain  in  the  King's  .Army.  After  fighting  the  en- 
emies of  the  King,  he,  "having  behaved  himself  well,  and  as  became  a 
Souldyer"  was  given  his  discharge  April  18,  1670,  "and  has  now  our 
consent  to  follow  his  private  affayres  without  any  further  lett  or  in- 
terruptions." 

He  was  given  two  grants  of  land,  one  in  Pennsylvania,  and  one 
in  New  York.  He  married  and  settled  in  New  York.  In  1720,  when 
his  two  sons,  John  and  Henry,  were  old  enough,  he  sent  them  to  the 
Pawling  grant  in  Pennsylvania,  where  they  settled.  They  were  the 
progenitors    of    many    hundreds    of    the    Pawlings    family    scattered 


GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY  349 

throughout  this  country  and  Canada.  The  location  of  this  tract  may 
be  seen  on  the  map.  pages  158  and  159,  Vol.  II,  of  Fisher's  "The  Dutch 
and  Quaker  Colonies  of  America,"  where  two  lots  are  marked  H. 
Pawling.  Pawling's  ford  and  Pawling's  bridge  in  the  Perkiomen 
region  were  named  after  this  family.  John  Pawling,  son  of  the  first 
Henry,  served  in  the  militia  during  the  colonial  period  holding  the 
rank  of  Lieutenant,  in  1711.  When  he  came  to  Pennsylvania  with 
his  brother,  he  became  owner  of  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Perkiomen 
Creek,  with  mills,  slaves  and  considerable  personal  property.  This 
property  became  famous  in  Revolutionary  history  as  the  camp  ground 
of  Washington's  Army  before  and  after  the  battle  of  Germantown. 
Manj'  of  the  Pawling  family  were  prominently  identified  with  St. 
James  Perkiomen  Church  and  served  as  wardens  and  vestrymen. 
Local  history  states  that  the  Pawling  family  was  a  large  and  influen- 
tial one  and  honorably  identified  with  the  affairs  of  Pennsylvania. 
Mary  Pawling  was  a  direct  descendant  of  John  Pawling.  (The  above 
notes  were  taken  from  "Genealogy  of  the  Pawling  Family"  by  Kath- 
erine  Wallace  Kitts.) 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  seventh  child  of  Abraham  and 
Mary  Lukens.  He  received  his  education  at  the  Chester  Academy,  as 
his  father  was  living  at  that  time  in  Chester  township,  Delaware 
county,  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Lukens  suffered  for  several  years  with 
throat  trouble,  and  finally  left  Chester,  December  23,  1883,  for  Cali- 
fornia, arriving  in  Los  Angeles,  January  1,  1884.  There  had  been  no 
rain  that  fall  and  he  thought  it  the  driest  and  most  uninteresting 
country  he  had  ever  seen,  but  in  January  the  rain  began  and  for  the 
next  six  months  he  spent  the  loneliest,  dreariest,  time  of  his  life.  That 
was  the  year  of  the  floods,  when  forty  inches  of  rain  were  recorded. 
The  whole  country  from  Los  Angeles  to  the  sea  was  one  vast  lake, 
while  the  Southern  Pacific  was  washed  out  from  Burbank  to  Los 
.\ngeles.  For  years  afterwards  the  tops  of  cars  could  be  seen  sticking 
out  of  the  sand  as  they  were  never  salvaged. 

He  called  with  a  letter  of  introduction,  on  Mr.  J.  C.  Sherer  as  soon 
as  he  arrived  but  did  not  see  him  again  for  many  months.  In  June 
by  the  advice  of  phj'sicians  he  bought  a  horse  and  a  hunter's  outfit 
and  started  on  a  trip  "into  the  land  of  nowhere."  He  went  north 
through  Santa  Barbara  and  up  the  coast  as  far  as  the  Oregon  line,  and 
down  the  middle  of  the  state.  His  adventures  were  many  and  varied. 
The  roads  were  only  trails.  Many  days  would  pass  when  he  wouldn't 
see  a  human  being.  Sometimes  he  had  to  wait  until  the  tide  went  out 
before  he  could  pass  some  rocky  point.  Reaching  a  city  he  would  put 
his  horse  out  to  pasture  and  rest  himself  for  a  week  or  two.  He 
stayed  in  San  Francisco  for  two  months.  In  returning  he  came 
through  the  inland  valleys.  Reaching  Yosemite,  he  left  his  horse  at 
the  entrance  and  went  into  the  valley  on  foot.  He  reached  Saugus  on 
Christmas  eve  in  time  to  eat  a  fine  Christmas  dinner,  and  was  in  Los 
Angeles  the  next  day  with  his  throat  trouble  all  cured,  .\bout  Janu- 
ary 1,  1885,  Mr.  Sherer  met  him  on  the  street  and  asked  him  to  go 
out  to  Glendale.  W^hen  he  came  to  California  he  was  in  partnership 
with  his  brothers  in  the  flour,  feed  and  hay  business  and  of  course  ex- 


350  GLENDALE  AND  VICINITY 

pected  to  go  back  to  it  some  time,  but  never  did.  later  severing  his 
connection  with  the  firm. 

Feeling  so  much  better  he  stayed  with  Mr.  Sherer  in  Glendale 
and  worked  for  him.  As  everyone  was  bu3ing  land  at  that  time,  he 
bought  a  lot  on  Pearl  Street,  Los  Angeles,  and  sjient  all  he  made  in 
paying  for  it.  which  was  the  beginning  of  his  land  ownership  in  Cali- 
fornia. He  never  desired  to  leave  the  valley  after  his  arrival.  During 
the  boom  in  the  late  '80"s  he  and  Mr.  Sherer  went  in  the  pipe  laying 
business,  all  the  water  before  that  time  having  run  in  open  ditches. 
Mr.  Sherer  withdrew  after  a  time,  but  Mr.  Lukens  continued  in  the 
business  for  many  years,  and  laid  miles  of  pipe  for  the  Southern  Pa- 
cific, the  Kern  County  Land  and  Water  Co.,  the  Sespe  Land  and 
Water  Co.,  the